


they're just fireflies

by misschevalier



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Blood and death but not very graphic, Minor Character Death, Multi, The Last of Us AU, nothing to do with my last of us AUs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 03:45:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2798384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misschevalier/pseuds/misschevalier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Geoff never thought that he would be smuggling a kid out of the city.</p>
<p>Also, he never thought he would get too attached to Ray.</p>
<p>(Neither of his lovers thought of that possibility.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <i>or a The Last of Us AU.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. SUMMER I

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this at the start of the year (when TLoU for PS4 came out)... so yeah. It's my first multichapter fic so it's pretty exciting. I hope you all like it. Also, this work has nothing to do with [Day 452](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2226849) or [2080](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2598590), keep that in mind.
> 
> ♥ comments are always appreciated!

Geoff woke up feeling as his soul was trying to leap out of his body.

He was shaking and a scream almost on coming out through his mouth.

That fucking memory was once again hunting him and, it didn’t matter years had passed, it still hurt. Geoff felt tears roll down on his cheeks as he sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face and taking deep breaths.

It has been so long since this started: the world changed too much already. These times were hard and for some reason, Geoff was glad _she_ wasn’t in this world anymore. Geoff wouldn’t have seeing his gorgeous wife making his hands dirty with blood instead of making his hands do art- he wouldn’t like to see themselves trying to survive in this living hell.

He looked around the apartment, feeling disgusted with himself because this house wasn’t his or anyone he knew. He had been travelling far too long when he found this place. Even when the walls were literally falling, some boxes were piled on each other and the windows were broken, it had a bed but, most important, a door with a still functioning lock.

“Geoff.” A gentle voice called him from the other side of the bed and felt the mattress moving under him.

“Yeah?” He said, before clearing his throat.

“Another nightmare?” Geoff looked at Jack, eyes filled with sadness and regret.

The bearded man sighed and pushed Geoff against him, both lying on the mattress once again. Geoff just hid his face against the crook of Jack’s neck.

They stayed like this for what it felt hours, seeing the sun setting and the surroundings becoming darker. They could hear some screaming in time to time, along with guns being fired and soldiers’ yells echoing on the empty streets.

Out of the blue, someone was banging at their door and they felt themselves jump.

Geoff looked at his lover and got up. “Stay here,” he muttered, stumbling before picking his gun.

When Geoff looked through the peephole, he was expecting to find anything else but him.

Soldiers, homeless, fuck, even an infected- but no, it was _him_.

He opened the door quickly and he found Ryan looking at his eyes, a small smile on his face.

“Hey, I’m not dead.”

Geoff wanted to hug the man and kiss him hard but his brain decided that it was easier to hit him straight in the face- and that’s what he did.

Ryan felt Geoff’s fist on his cheek and he ended stumbling, falling towards the other wall of the hall. Geoff’s actions caught him off guard.

“I guess I deserve that,” Ryan mumbled.

Jack was standing a few feet away from Geoff when he saw Ryan and his own heart jumped. They haven’t seen Ryan in _months_ \- they were already sure he was dead but right now he was there, standing in their front door.

Even when Ryan deserved that hit, Geoff pulled him into a crushing hug that the younger couldn’t help but return back. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Ryan felt happy once again, feeling Geoff’s scruffy beard against his face, and he couldn’t help but dig his fingers on his lover’s shirt, holding him closer.

Geoff looked up to see him, his hands on both sides of Ryan’s face. With his fingers he traced Ryan’s wound on his cheek then kissed him breathless. They broke their embrace and Geoff pulled Ryan inside.

“Oh god,” they heard Jack’s gasp. “Come here,” Jack said, his hands grabbing Ryan’s shirt and pulling him closer, before kissing him.

Ryan tangled his fingers on Jack’s hair, humming happily.

Jack’s kiss wasn’t as rough as Geoff’s but Ryan could taste both love and guilt on his mouth.

+

“Where were you?” Geoff asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Jack was standing next to Ryan, checking on the younger’s wound. His lantern and pointing at the ceiling so the room wasn’t all dark. Ryan stayed in silence sitting on the table in the kitchen, flinching at Jack’s cold fingers.

When Jack stepped out, both of them looked at him like expectantly.

“West End district.” They kept glaring at him, as they were waiting for something else. “I-I got in trouble with some hunters. There were a few assholes wanting my ration cards and I didn’t have any but that didn’t stop them.” Ryan answered. “Happy?”

Ryan felt Jack’s cold fingers pulling his shirt up but he stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

“Pull up your shirt,” Jack demanded.

“Why?” Ryan asked but with the look Jack was giving him, he knew that was a lost fight. When he pulled his shirt up, he looked away, trying to not see Jack and Geoff’s expression when they saw his bandages.

“You’re an idiot,” Jack exclaimed, walking down to the bedroom where they had the first aid kit, but Ryan stopped him, holding his wrist.

“Don’t. It’s not an emergency, Jack, they’re quite but I’ve been taking care of them.” Ryan replied. “Don’t use it on me, it would be a waste.”

“Let me check you and we’ll see if it’s not necessary,” Jack said, almost begged. Ryan finally nodded and he let Jack start to take away the bandages.

Geoff and Ryan kept looking at each other while Jack worked, both of them in silence.

+

It was already midnight when Ryan found Geoff sitting on a chair in the kitchen.

He had his feet up on the table, looking out the window. On the table, his gun.

(Ryan wasn’t sure if he was on watch but he didn’t dare to ask.)

Their apartment was on the fifth floor, which was enough to look over some other buildings, the outpost’s lights always pointing at their window. Sometimes, they could see Fireflies walking over the roofs, and if it was bright enough, they could see some infected walking through the deserted streets.

Geoff dropped his feet to the floor when he saw Ryan standing under the door frame, being Jack’s snores the only noise that echoed in the apartment.

They shared a look and Geoff pulled him to his lap, hugging Ryan’s waist.

The younger sat sideways and rested his head on Geoff’s temple, arm wrapped around the man’s shoulders. They were quiet for a few moments before Geoff said “both you and I know that they are no hunters in the West End district, Ryan.”

“Almer sent them,” Ryan answered quickly. “He’s selling our guns to the Fireflies.”

“That motherfucker,” Geoff groaned quietly. Ryan giggled and caressed his lover’s hair.

“Don’t worry, he’s not smart enough. I took one of the men he send and I asked _politely_ where Almer was. He’s hiding on the Area 8, at the east of the city.”

“You didn’t ask him like a normal human being, right?” Geoff smiled at him.

“Well,” Ryan said, smiling back. “I kindly cut his tongue, it’s not that bad.”

 “Aren’t you adorable,” Geoff chuckled and Ryan’s soft laugh rang through the room, silent enough to not wake up Jack. “We’ll go when curfew ends in the morning, that asshole better answer some questions.”

Both of them stayed in a comfortable silence, looking out the broken window and sharing some kisses here and there. Geoff’s hand were sneaking under Ryan’s shirt, caressing his back and the skin he had been missing. Ryan only hummed softly, pressing kisses on Geoff’s face.

They were there until they heard Jack calling them with a _there’s not cuddles for me_?

 

* * *

 

Ray had this friend named Joel Heyman and he was, probably, the most amazing person in the universe.

He was annoying sometimes, for sure, but he was always taking care at Ray, without expecting something in return. Joel remembered his favorite things (his favorite songs, meals, clothes, books) and Ray would hang out with Joel, talking about life, joking around and laughing- ignoring everything that was happening behind the school’s walls.

They had met on the first days of school, between military drills and classes and, several months later, they were best friends and no one could say the opposite.

(They were the worst: teachers hated them together because of their pranks, but they didn’t care.)

Ray didn’t know when he started feeling weird about Joel but he did actually remember when he started loving his smiles, and his laugh, and his very crazy hair, and his strange habits, and everything he did.

Ray was falling in love with this guy and he didn’t realize it.

One day, Joel disappeared.

It seemed like the teachers didn’t noticed and all their classmates forgot about it.

Well, it wasn’t weird that someone of the class would disappear but… Joel.

Joel was a very important piece on Ray’s life and he couldn’t go on and get lost one day.

Yet, it seemed like he could.

He went lost thirty six days ago and he haven’t appeared.

Those days were the worst on Ray’s life and he tried not to cry or to die and he drowned himself on school, doing whatever he could to not think about Joel- not think about his ~~very possible dead~~ best friend.

Then, as he went, he returned.

Ray thought he was hallucinating or something because he started seeing Joel walking around the halls, and sometimes on his class and he was ignoring him and _oh god I’m getting crazy or what_ -

It wasn’t until one day, while Ray was returning to his room, he caught Joel walking in the hallway. His breath hitched and he felt dizzy but he ran, taking Joel’s wrist with his hand.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ray asked him, wide eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Joel asked, as if Ray had suddenly grown a second head. “I’m going to my bedroom, that’s what I’m doing.”

“You know that’s not what I meant!” Ray almost yelled, and when he noticed one of their superiors getting out of one of the rooms, he pushed Joel inside of his. He closed the door behind himself and looked at Joel, while the other just observed him. “Why did you disappear?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Oh, now you can’t tell me! You suddenly left-” Ray had to hold down the left _me_ , “and now you’re all strange. What happened?”

“Look, I have to go. It’s my turn to watch over the tower, okay? Now, excuse me” and with that, he carefully pushed Ray out of his way and left the room, closing the door behind.

It wasn’t a lie that Ray cried himself to sleep.

(The person he loved the most now hates him and it’s acting strange and now he doesn’t want to ever get up of his bed.)

(He lost Joel.)

That night, Ray woke up when the light of the hall hit his face and, then, his bed started moving under the weight of someone else. He almost jumped off his bed with fear but then he heard someone shushing him softly- hand on his hair, caressing it gently.

It was Joel. “Come on, Ray, get up,” he said, shaking the younger’s boy body, to get him fully wake up. “We need to go.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Then again, he was shushed and Joel threw him his clothes on his bed.

“We need to talk so get up. I’ll be waiting you outside,” and with that, Joel left the room and left a very confused Ray sitting on his bed, looking for his glasses on the nightstand. His brain doubted if he should follow Joel but his heart gave him every other reason while he should.

“Goddamn.”

+

Both of them got out of the school and started walking in the darkness of the city, trying to evade every homeless, soldier, Fireflies or hunter that could cross in their way. Joel held Ray’s hand all the way until they found themselves on an old mall- obviously abandoned.

Neither of them said anything while walking, until Joel got them into the old Sears store in the building. “Now, this is ridiculous. Why are we here, Joel?” Ray said, getting away from the elder’s grip.

Joel looked quite ashamed to ask at first. “Can we lie down?”

“Lie where?” Ray asked, frowning.

“On the bedroom section,” Joel replied and Ray couldn’t resist Joel’s eyes looking at him like that.

For Ray, it seemed quite impressive that Joel had found one store that was still filled with things that people used on the pre-infected times because, when the infection started expanding, people got crazy and stole everything they could from the stores- even if they didn’t need it.

After a few minutes later, both of them found themselves lying on a mattress.

Ray doesn’t remember feeling so comfortable in his life: the pillow under his head, the mattress under his body, the soft blankets over his body, Joel next to him.

(This was something that didn’t know he wanted.)

“So…” Ray said, feeling Joel’s eyes over him, observing him in silence. “Why are we here?”

Joel said anything but, instead, moving the upper part of his hoodie and showing a necklace. Ray had to look at Joel twice before touching the pendant: a Firefly pendant- Joel’s name and a strange number under it, along with the Firefly symbol.

Ray was speechless and Joel looked at him, waiting for something.

“You’re a Firefly,” he finally said. “You’re a fucking- I can’t- that’s why you left?”

Joel nodded, not taking his eyes away from Ray’s little form almost drowning himself under the blankets.

“You disappeared thirty six days to become a Firefly,” Ray huffed. “You know we trained to kill them?”

 Joel was just lying there, right beside Ray, trying to find the right words but instead his mouth decided to blurt out “I’m leaving tomorrow to Michigan.”

“Okay.” Ray said, taking a few minutes to digest the news. “If you want to go, go.”

“That’s all?” Joel said, almost sitting on the bed and looking at Ray with wide, surprised eyes.

“Well,” Ray mumbled, also sitting. “Who I am to stop you?”

“The only person that can.”

Ray felt as if those words took all the air out of his lungs and he just stayed there, looking at nothing. He lied down on the bed again, putting all the blankets over his head and closed his eyes, not wanting to know about anything- he just wanted to die right there.

He felt Joel moving next to him and under the blankets. Suddenly, a light left them dazzled for a few seconds and, when Ray noticed, it was Joel’s lantern under the blankets with them. Ray could notice, thanks to the light, Joel’s almost noticeable freckles on his nose for all the sun he had received over the years and he couldn’t help himself but start tracing a finger over the elder’s nose and cheeks.

Suddenly, every feeling hit him hard. He didn’t want Joel to go, he didn’t want his idiotic best friend to leave, he didn’t want to lose him again, he wanted Joel to know how much he loved him, he wanted to tell him how important Joel was to him, he wanted-

“Don’t go.” Ray’s voice almost broke, he didn’t notice that he was at the verge of tears. “I don’t want to lose you- please stay, stay with me.” Ray’s hands found Joel’s hoodie and held to it firmly.

Joel took his necklace and, quickly moving the blanket out of his way, he threw it somewhere into the store, and went back under with Ray, smiling widely.

“Okay,” Joel said. “I won’t go.” Ray wasn’t sure where he found all the confidence to hold Joel, pulling him into a kiss, but he did it. Joel held him closely, kissing back.  (They didn’t care that those kisses were sloppy and weren’t the best thing but they actually were the best thing.)

“It’s too hot,” Ray muttered, a smile on his face. Joel quickly took Ray’s hoodie and, soon, his own hoodie followed out of the bed. Ray was dizzy, mostly because he felt Joel’s cold fingertips on his back, caressing it softly, and he was questioning himself if Joel was feeling dizzy as well.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later, they heard a megaphone echoing through the store: it was the morning call for military drills, coming from the outpost.

“We need to go,” Ray almost moaned, when he felt Joel’s lips on his neck. “Joel.”

“I don’t want to go,” he mumbled, his face pressed on Ray’s neck.

“You’re coming with me,” Ray answered, caressing Joel’s sides. “Come on, we can continue this later.”

They got up, after hearing the morning call once again, throwing their hoddies on. Joel took each opportunity he had to give Ray a peck and Ray, well, he couldn’t fell happier.

What happened after was something they didn’t expect- neither something they had whished.

The second morning call comes with this loud siren, to alert everyone that the outpost is being open. It echoed loudly on the store and, when it finished, whimpers and groans started to appear under the silence of the store. Both Ray and Joel looked at each other and started walking quietly.

That wasn’t enough.

Before they knew it, they were running out the building, trying to escape. They ran up the stairs, over cement wall that had fallen down with the years, through the stores, until they reached an open area that seemed to be under construction, obviously, never finished.

“Joel!” Ray screamed when he felt a hand holding him back, and before he knew, he was battling against an infected, both of them on the floor. Then, his face and body was covered of blood and goo thanks to the hit Joel did to the infected’s head with an old pipe. “Come on, let’s go!” He said, taking Joel’s hand but the boy didn’t move.

Ray looked at him as if he was crazy.

“We need to leave, Joel,” Ray said. “There’s probably a lot more to come.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Before Ray could say anything, he noticed Joel’s hoodie being bloody and, when he moved the sleeve up, he noticed awful gash that had left an infected on his body.

“Oh- no, no, please, no,” he almost whimpered, looking at Joel’s gash. “Why?”

Joel laughed, taking Ray’s shirt and moving it out of the way, to see the bite that was now decorating his skin. “We are fucked, Ray.” Ray cried and hit Joel and screamed asking _why? why them? why now_? And Joel only held him, shushing him in a soothing tone. “We’ll be fine.”

Far too young to die.

When Ray finally calmed down, they got up and cleaned their wounds and the blood they had all over their bodies in a bathroom close to the exit.

They sneaked into the school, locked the door, and they fell asleep holding each other as tightly as they could, because right now they didn’t care about military drills or classes or anything like that.

(In that moment, Ray didn’t care about anything but Joel.)

Ray and Joel left the school days after and they moved into an abandoned apartment together.  They lived how they could and they didn’t go out as often as they wanted: Fireflies and military man were everywhere.

They spent their days holding each other, Ray would talk about what happened when Joel wasn’t around all those thirty six days, sometimes Joel would tell him stories about the Fireflies and sometimes they would just fuck, enjoying each other.

Days later, Joel started showing signs of the disease.

Ray still felt fine.

A week later, Joel left a letter on the kitchen table.

Ray knew he was going to kill himself because Ray was still fine.

(He didn’t open the letter, he wasn’t strong enough. He lied on the bed, crying himself to sleep.)

Ray didn’t deploy any symptoms over two weeks and, after three weeks, he still felt fine.

It wasn’t until the sixth week when Lyra found him.

* * *

 

Ryan shot at Almer, the man being useless to them.

“What we do now?” Jack asked, walking around the dead body.

“We find a Firefly,” Geoff muttered, looking at his lovers.

“No need to go too far,” Lyra said, getting out of a corner of the building with a hand on her abdomen.

“There she is- the Firefly Queen,” Ryan said jokingly. He had never liked her. He never had trusted in Fireflies, maybe it was because one of them killed his family and leaved him to tell the story. He felt disgusted for some of them. “Lyra, you aren’t looking so hot.”

“Yeah, well,” she looked down at her wound and shrugged. “I needed Almer alive.”

“We want our guns,” Geoff said.

“We’ll have to make a deal, then,” Lyra replied, walking closer to Almer’s body.

“Okay, how many ration cards?” Geoff was starting to get out some out of his pocket but he stopped when he heard Lyra’s laugh.

“I don’t care for ration cards… you know that the government is already running low on supplies. I just need to get something smuggled out the city.” Jack noticed she was starting to become paler, due to her wounds. “To a crew of Fireflies in the capitol building. You do it and you get your guns back and something else. What do ya’ say?”

“It’s not a close drop, Lyra.” They started to hear voices and shouts coming from behind them: the military man finding them. Lyra was ready to run, she raised her eyebrow as if she was asking if they were going to accept the deal or not. Geoff looked his lovers’ approbation and nodded. “Deal. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

+

Lyra stumbled when she opened the door and fell to the floor.

Jack, being the good hearted man he is, tried to help her on her feet. “Leave her alone!” They heard and Ryan was already holding the boy’s wrist, on his hand a knife, ready to attack. “Leave!”

“It is okay, Ray, they’re friends.” Geoff snorted at that and entered the room.

He heard Ray mutter a _shit_ under his breath and he helped Lyra to get up, getting Jack out of the way. The boy was starting to search for bandages when Lyra stopped him.

“Don’t worry, I can fix it myself. You need to go.”

“Go? Where? I can’t leave you here.” Lyra was sure that it meant _you can’t leave me again_.

“Shut up. You’re going with them, is it clear?” Lyra interrupted the boy and looked over Geoff.

“Wait. We are smuggling _him_?” This thing doesn’t happen every day.

The Gents were known for smuggling things around the city: guns, food, bottled water, clothes, but they were never asked to smuggle a person. Well, there’s always a first.

“You want your guns, Geoffrey?” Lyra asked, her glaring making Geoff look away. “I know it’s not close but you go, come back and I give you your guns. Make it double. You can come and see them, if you want to but he’s not coming with us.” She pointed at Ray. “I want one of you to watch over him-”

 “Lyra!” Ray said, still looking at her.

“No talking,” she said, glaring at him.

Jack mumbled softly at them that he could stay with the boy, while they were with the woman, looking at the guns. Geoff hesitated but he preferred Jack being safe with the boy than being with a Firefly.

“We’ll meet each other at the flat in the south of here, okay?” Jack whispered to them, taking the gun Ryan was giving to him. “Be careful,” he mumbled at them and Geoff held himself to not kiss Jack in front of Lyra: he didn’t want to show his weakness in front of her, actually, anyone. “C’mon Ray, let’s get out of here.”

Ray looked at Lyra, a glare filled with betrayal, and then he walked behind Jack, who was holding the door for him. Jack nodded at his lovers and closed the door, which lead to a little garden at the back of the other building’s backsides that disorienting Jack a bit.

After walking around, Jack finally found the stairs he was looking for.

When they were on the building, walking in the halls, Ray commented something.

“So, you three are thing or…”

The older man smiled at Ray, who was strolling behind him, hands on his hoodie.

Jack knew that Geoff didn’t like him telling people about them: it makes their weakness show and also, if in a normal society they didn’t think polygamy was fine, then anyone could imagine how it was in a post-apocalyptic society.

 “We’re in a relationship,” he answered then shrugged. “It’s nice.”

“It’s hard to find people who love each other in these times.”

“Yes, it’s hard but worth it,” Jack replied and then started asking questions to himself, so he decided to ask them to Ray. “So… what are you doing hanging out with Lyra? You’re way too young to be a Firefly.”

“I’m not a Firefly and she’s just a friend- well, kind of.” Ray shrugged, hands on his pockets. “She found me when I needed it the most and I just accepted her help.”

“Then why she’s keeping with her?” Jack had stopped on the stairs, looking down at the boy. Ray didn’t answer, so Jack asked another question “how old are you, anyway?”

“Seventeen, and yes, I was supposed to be on boarding school until I was nineteen and become one of the military but, you know, shit happens.” Ray started walking again, passing next to Jack, who only nodded, and kept thinking how much this boy had to pass to be where he is now. It just hurt his heart to think about it.

The building they were walking in was abandoned, as almost everything in this part of the city.

Ray noticed that most of the doors had been locked with strange machinery, yellow and silver bars covering the doors like the ones soldiers used to keep everything _safe_. All the doors were locked but the last one in the hallway was intact.

Jack opened the door slowly and looked around the apartment, checking if everything was in order.

“Now we wait,” Jack said, looking outside the window.

He noticed three spots moving in the distance before disappearing around a corner and he sighed.

This apartment was small, smaller than their normal one. It had a couch and an armchair, which was pointing at the hole on the wall that connected the building with the following. Ray sat on the sofa and didn’t take his eyes out of Jack.

“Is something wrong?”

“No,” Ray answered, shyly. “It’s just, it’s been a while since the last time I was this close to the outside. I mean, really dangerous outside.”

Jack nodded and sat down on the armchair, with his gun in hand, just in case. This wasn’t the safest place in the world but it would hide them for a while.

Ray looked nervous and Jack took something out of his bag.

“Want chocolate?” Jack offered and giggled at Ray’s eyes lighting up.

Ray frowned at it but took a piece. “Where did you find this? I haven’t seen this in years- probably I saw this once in my life, but whoa, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Uhm, they… the guys like to spoil me,” Jack smiled at the boy. Ray nodded, Jack just observed him, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Why are you so important to the Fireflies?”

Ray shrugged. “You know, stuff.”

Jack nodded and didn’t ask anything else. He watched Ray fell asleep on the couch and then his view changed to the window, noticing some shadows moving on the other buildings around them, but Jack didn’t worry too much about it.

It started to rain when the sun fell and Jack was getting a bit worried about his lovers.

(He doesn’t remember falling asleep.)

“We’re back,” Jack jumped on his seat, waking up startled because of the sudden noise. “Hey, it’s us,” Ryan was the one who shook his arm to wake him up, apologizing for doing it too harshly. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack smiled softly at him and looked at Geoff, who was standing in front of the boy.

“We saw the guns. It’s a lot,” Geoff said, walking over to Jack and let Ryan wake up Ray. “Lyra didn’t want to tell us why she wanted him smuggled over and we weren’t the first option to do it but, you know, a deal is a deal.” Jack nodded and got up, watching the boy.

“Come on, we better get going,” Ryan said, walking through the broken wall to the other building, carefully. Ray followed him before Geoff and Jack made his way over.

Their walk had a good pace.

They walked down the stairs of the other building, being quiet about it. They could hear soldiers walking around, since curfew was over then, and infected around them but that didn’t stop them. Jack told Ray that when they hit the streets, he had to be close to them and be careful with anything, making only Ray nod.

(Geoff knew that Jack was going to get attached to be boy, it was his nature.)

Jack was walking in front of them, getting out of the underground tunnel they have been walking for a few minutes. Their silent steps seemed it weren’t silent at all and Geoff only got to see a soldier hitting Jack in the head before he noticed another one pointing at them with a flash light.

“Hands where I can see them!” It was a woman who was pointing at them. Ryan had to push Ray gently as if he was telling him to move. “This is Rosales, sector East-4. I request a pick-up for four smugglers,” the soldier with the gun pointing at their heads notified by radio.

The soldier who hit Jack was starting to scan them, one by one.

Geoff noticed Ray’s shaky breaths and heard his _oh man, oh man_ when the soldier was scanning him.

He didn’t know when or how but when Jack started noticing his surroundings, Ray was stabbing the soldier and saw Geoff throwing himself to the woman, Ryan shooting her head. When Jack looked back at Ray, the soldier wasn’t moving anymore and he the knife fell before Ray pressed himself against a wall.

“Shit, shit.” Ray muttered.

Jack looked at him worriedly and tried to make his way but Ryan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Geoff,” Ryan called and showed at him the scanner. On it, a big red bar blinking with **INFECTED**. “Why are we smuggling an _infected_ boy, Geoff?”

“I’m not infected!” Ray cried, looking scared. Jack frowned and watched his lovers’ expressions. “I’m not, look, please, believe me.” The younger boy desperately rolled up his sleeve and showed at them his mark, making Jack look away- his stomach turning at the sight. “It has months and I’m fine, I’m fine.”

The way Ray looked at them was as if he was begging them to not kill him, to not pull a bullet between his eyes.  “I don’t believe you,” Geoff said, looking at him, “but we aren’t going to kill you. If you start showing symptoms in a few hours, I might put a bullet between those pretty eyes of yours.”

Ray nodded quickly, feeling Geoff’s venom on his words.

Ryan cursed under his breath when he saw a car’s light over them.  “Move!” He barked.

They jumped into a crate and heard one of the soldiers reporting two bodies: that’s when the alarms started to go out, trucks driving down the streets. Ray was pressed between Ryan and Jack’s bodies against a wall, waiting Geoff to give the order to move.

They kept jogging behind the older man, hearing distant shoots and some screams, followed by heavy footsteps.

Ray felt dizzy about all of this happening because of _him_. Also, it wasn’t his favorite place being hidden in the immense water pipes under the concrete but it was somewhere that it seemed safe for the moment.

“ _We’re returning to the wall! There’s nothing here! Back to the wall, everybody_!”

They finally got out of the water pipes and Ray couldn’t help but throw himself at the floor: it’s been a long time since he had adrenaline running through his veins. Ryan was checking on Jack, even when the man told him that he was fine. Geoff kneeled next to Ray and looked at him.

“What is the plan? Did Lyra tell you something?”

Ray found himself lost in the man’s eyes before answering. “T-the Firefly have their own quarantine zone, they’re looking for the cure.” Ray looked down and back up to see Jack and Ryan’s eyes. “She- you know, she thinks I’m the cure. She thinks I can help.”

Geoff looked at him a few more seconds before nodding. “Okay, okay. I still don’t believe you, so you better don’t do any wrong moves, kid.” Ray shook his head quickly, fear in his eyes when Geoff got up. “We should be hitting the Capitol with the sunrise. Better get going.” Jack helped Ray get up and Ryan jogged next to Geoff.

Their walk had a good pace.

+

Ray had never seen those big building up close and he felt in some sort of dream.

It was unrealistic, everything that was happening: he was being walked by three men he didn’t know to a place that Ray was sure Geoff thought it didn’t exist. It was just crazy.

Ray’s mind asked a question that fell heavy on his heart: If he never had stopped Joel, he would have seen these enormous buildings that went over the clouds? Did the Fireflies had in their possession buildings this big? They walked in silence and Ray found himself daydreaming, aching with the thought that he didn’t see how everything was before _this_ happened.

The pre-infection times.

He remembers too little and most of what he knows is things he had read in the papers the boarding school gave them and the stories of his teachers: people who lived years before the infection, enjoying life, having decent jobs, families, food and houses.

“Are you okay, Ray?” Ray snapped out of his daydream when Jack called him. He noticed that they had entered to an old building, what it seemed to be offices, filled with papers and cubicles. He nodded at the man and kept walking next to him. “C’mon, this way.”

Ray saw the oxidized emergency stairs outside the window, Ryan sitting on it, waiting, and Geoff already walking up to the last floor. Accidentally, Ray stumbled with a bottle and he froze, hearing an infected scream on the following room.

Jack looked at him and gasped, taking out his gun and staring to shoot as soon as the horde entered.

The younger boy looked around in desperation, the room filling with runners’ screams and Ryan’s strong voice coming from the window. Ray found a corpse with a gun on his hand- he didn’t doubt about taking it. He finally got to shoot the last runner and turned at Jack.

“I’m sorry, it was an accident.” Jack looked at him, just asking if he was okay. “Define okay,” Ray answered, hands on his knees.

“Are you still breathing?” He patted the boy’s back softly.

“Do small panicked breaths count?” Jack chuckled at the comment and nodded, glad that Ray was fine.

Ryan was rubbing his eyes when he saw both of them jumping over the window and Ray smiled slightly at the _asshole_ Geoff muttered to Jack but his smile quickly disappeared when Geoff gave him a deadly look.

“There it is,” Jack said, pointing the Capitol at the distance.

Ray gasped when he saw the view in front of him.

That was the first time he ever saw a sunrise from the top of a building: the sky taking stunning and warm colors, shining them over the broken city under their feet. Also, he could see the Capitol just a few buildings away and it was the shiniest building around the city- one of the only official buildings still intact. He couldn’t say it wasn’t gorgeous.

“Pretty, isn’t?”

“You can’t deny the view,” Ray answered. Ryan called Ray and he left Geoff and Jack behind.

The bearded man felt a hand wrap around his wrist and he looked at Geoff, frown on his face. “We are leaving him with the Fireflies and we are not going to see him again.”

Geoff had his eyes fixed into Jack’s, who was frowning.

“What do you mean with that?” Jack asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

“You’re getting attached. Just… try not to. Remember what happened last time? We watched her die.” Geoff spat at him and Jack moved his arm to get it out from the elder’s grip. “Forget about him, he’s probably dying anyway.”

Jack ignored his lover’s voice and jogged next to Ryan and Ray, who were watching the sunset while waiting for them. Ryan noticed the tension between his lovers but before he could ask, Jack had shrugged it off and started talking with Ray, leaving a quite pissed Geoff behind them.

+

Jack looked up at the big doors the Capitol had, as if they were awaiting for them.

One thing he found strange was that they were no Fireflies guarding the entrance, which gave him a bad feeling. He and Ray shared looks while Ryan took the lead and opened the doors.

“Fuck,” Geoff heard Ryan curse and he knew that it wasn’t any good.

Geoff entered and saw it: bodies.

There where both infected and Fireflies lying around, dead, bullets on their bodies. Geoff thought that he recognized some faces but, honesty, he didn’t want to look at them too much. “Fuck, fuck,” Ryan kept cursing, searching the bodies.

“What are you doing?” Asked Ray, frowning.

“Maybe they had a map or something,” Ryan muttered in response with hurry, “somewhere else they had their labs, their quarantine zone, I don’t know.”

“We should go back.”

Ryan froze at Geoff’s voice.

“What?” Geoff shook his head and stepped in front of the younger man.

“We should, Ryan- there’s nothing here. We need to take him back to Lyra. He’s probably going to die soon, so why bother?” Ray looked down and touched his arm, where the bite was, stinging.

(Geoff’s words hurt a little more than expected.)

“We’re going to take him to Burnie’s,” Ryan’s firm voice echoed through the room. Jack and Geoff were watching him in silence. “He knows Fireflies, he might know something. He was looking for the cure.” Ryan and Geoff looked for moment before Ryan cursed loudly. “Dammit Geoff! Stop looking at me like that!”

“Why is so important to you?” Geoff spat suddenly at Ryan’s face. “You never cared about the infection, why suddenly this is so important to you?!”

“Because I don’t want to watch the people I love die!” Ryan’s yell rang in Ray’s hears and he was sure that was going to be marked on his mind. Ryan clenched and unclenched his fist, before saying in a lower voice “I watched people die for this. What if you get bitten... or Jack? Or even me? Wouldn’t you like to have the cure at yours hands?”

Geoff took a deep breath, eyes still fixed into Ryan’s. “He’s lying. That bite doesn’t have months.”

Ryan’s face became red and, taking the arm of one of the infected bodies, he started moving it all the way to Geoff to finally drop him at his feet. Ray had to look away because his stomach was turning around from all the blood in the floor.

“I know what a bite looks like, Geoff. I had to see my whole family die because of the Fireflies shooting at them, because they were infected! Don’t you think I know what is real or not?!” Ryan took Ray’s arm showing at Geoff the bite. Ryan looked at his lover and said in a lower voice “That is fucking real, so you better believe it.”

When Ryan opened his mouth to say something else, the door started to bang and moans and screams from the infected echoed once again. “Let’s go,” Jack said, taking Geoff’s wrist.

Geoff didn’t move.

“You go, I’ll buy you time.”

“No! That’s a suicide mission!” Jack looked angry at him. “Don’t try to make yourself the hero!”

“I’ll go behind you! Go!” Geoff pushed Ray against Ryan’s body and the other men started to run.

(Ryan was going to kill Geoff after that, for sure.)

The Capitol was, strangely, full of soldiers, searching for the stuff the Fireflies had. Some explosions and some shooting later, they found themselves out of the building. It was the exact replica of the front side of the building: big doors, large columns and white stairs, just, this time, decorated with blood and goo.

When they were sure about them being alone, Jack sat down in one of the steps of the stairs.

It had to happen a miracle for Geoff to come out of that alive.

Ray watched Jack press the palm of his hands against his eyes, and let out a broken sob. Ryan ran and pulled him into a hug, caressing his hair and muttering _sorry_ at him over and over again.

Ray couldn’t do anything else that watch Ryan trying to calm down Jack, his hands caressing the man’s hair or arms or back or just giving him kisses. The younger man felt his heart break because oh god, Geoff’s dead and-

“Are you crying for me? How charming.”

Jack’s head turned around and saw Geoff, covered in blood, but smiling. Ryan sighed and chuckled softly, a relieved expression appearing on his face. Geoff walked over Ryan and Jack, and kneeled in front of them, both of his hands on his lovers’ cheeks.

“I love you two so much.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jack muttered between cries, his body flying to wrap his arms around Geoff’s neck. “I hate you so much. You’re an asshole, stupid, imprudent-” Geoff and Ryan chuckled at Jack’s actions and both of them shared a quick peck.

Ray couldn’t help but smile at them, his heart itching at the memory of feeling loved.

When Jack calmed himself (then hit Geoff straight in the face, making him have a bloody nose), Geoff had made intent of apologizing to Ray for not believing him. Of course, he never said “sorry” or “I was wrong”, but Ray thought that it was a pretty good apology for someone as proud as Geoff.

They continued their travelling to Burnie’s, who was in the southern states.

Now, their journey was longer than ever.

+

A few hours later, Geoff and Jack found themselves watching Ryan and Ray sleeping on a mattress, in some flat they found in a building that didn’t seem it was going to fall any time soon.

(The nature was starting to get into the building in one side, vines wrapping around the red bricks and trees making their way into the abandoned apartments, flowers appearing on some corners. It was incredible how nature could destroy yet look so beautiful at the same time.)

Geoff’s fingers were tangled with Jack’s, both of them enjoying the warmness of the fire in front of them.

They ran the building a few times, checking for soldiers, infected or even spores and, gladly, they didn’t found any of them. So, they decided that their real journey would start tomorrow, when daylight hits. They camped there, ate some food and now, Jack and Geoff were doing the first round of vigilance.

Jack smiled at Ray’s body curling closer to Ryan’s, seeking for the man’s warm body. He turned his face to see Geoff’s.

“Have I ever told you how thankful I am?” Geoff frowned and looked at him, as if he was asking why. “You and Ryan. Ray told me how hard was to find people who love each other in these times and it got me thinking. I don’t know where I’d be without both of you.”

Geoff’s warm smile was something Jack’s heart couldn’t take and he skipped a beat.

“Come here, idiot,” he said, his arm in Jack’s shoulder, pulling him close. “I love you. _We_ love you.  Don’t ever forget that, even if something goes wrong…” Geoff let out a shaky sigh. “I’ll always love you. And no, I’m not Whitney Huston.”

Jack giggles were muted thanks to Geoff’s lips on his.

“C’mon, lovebirds, one of you get to sleep. It’s my watch,” Ryan muttered and got up from the mattress. Jack pushed Geoff to the bed, scolding him that he needed to sleep more. Ryan sat next to Jack and as Geoff did, he tangled his fingers with Jack’s.

A few minutes later, the two men watched Geoff’s arm sneak to Ray’s waist to pull him closer.

Ray moved even closer to the older man, hiding his face on the man’s shirt.

Jack noticed that was the first night Geoff didn’t had a nightmare.


	2. SUMMER II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas everyone! thanks for the kudos. *hearts*

“This is amazing,” Ray whispered to himself, looking the nature around them.

The concrete street there were walking over as been moved by the pass of time, getting cracks because of the trees and the green spreading quickly around it. They have been walking the whole morning through the outskirts of the city and leaving it behind, but this was the first time they encounter with an area this green.

Jack chuckled and asked him what was amazing.

“This. I have never seen anything like this, I always lived around buildings.”

Jack nodded in silence, smiling at the boy’s expression.

Geoff was smiling at both of them. Finding that the boy didn’t get to enjoy the pre-infection times was something that hurt Geoff’s heart a little but seeing Ray’s smiles and the way he laughed, Geoff didn’t felt sad for him: he was sure Ray found a way to enjoy the post-infection times.

“Fireflies,” Ray gasped and Ryan turned his head back at him, fearing something bad but he saw him, he saw what he was talking about. It weren’t Fireflies but… they're just  _fireflies_.

Ryan observed the boy looking with bright eyes the little bugs dancing around him.

Jack looked at Ray and then Ryan, noticing the way the older man was looking at Ray. He knew that look. It was the same look Ryan gave only to them, and Jack didn’t know how to feel. At the same time he wanted that look just for the two of them but Ray- Ray in some way was special and Jack didn’t know what to think, either.

“Look, smoke.” Geoff’s voice got him out of his thoughts; he was standing on top of a shed, looking at the distance. Geoff noticed the frown in Jack’s face and asked what was wrong.

“I heard this city didn’t have people anymore, the infection hit harder than they thought and they evacuated almost at the start of it. I don’t know who would live here.” Jack talked while Ryan and Ray made their way on top of the shed, to jump over a fence. “We need to be careful.”

“Roger that. Now move your ass over here,” Ryan said playfully, giving Jack a hand so he could climb too. When Jack stepped into the other side of the fence, Geoff and Ray were nowhere to be seen.

+

Ray have been wandering with Geoff around the city, noticing the rusty yellow _warning_ signs followed by evacuation signs. Ray never saw them before, since he always lived closer to quarantine zones and the boarding school didn’t have any of them.

“You seem like you had never seen a town before,” Geoff commented, walking in front of him.

“An abandoned town? I haven’t,” Ray answered, looking at him. “It’s surreal.”

“That everything is happening? Believe it, kid.” Geoff entered to a store. He was searching for some rags and alcohol- you never know when you’re going to need it. Ray was about to say something else when he felt Geoff’s arms pulling him closer and a hand on his mouth, both of them pressing against a wall.

Geoff pointed in front of them.

A clicker was there (and thank god he’s blind, because they would be dead by now.)

It was breathing and moving around slowly. Ray froze and felt Geoff’s arms leaving him so he could take his gun out, as silent as he could.

What Geoff didn’t expect were Ryan and Jack walking on the street and one of them kicking something, and the clicker, forgetting about Geoff and Ray, screamed and started running at his lovers.

For Ray, everything went so fast in front of his eyes.

The clicker passed running over them, almost hitting Ray with an elbow (and Ray wasn’t even sure if that was an elbow, with all the fungus growing on it) and saw Jack and Ryan’s head turning to see the creature running at them full speed. Ray was sure they were going to get bitten, their movements not fast enough to stop the clicker to jump in front of Ryan.

A shot rang through the street and Ryan found himself in the floor with a lifeless clicker on top of him.

He threw it to one side and assured to Jack that he was fine.

Geoff still held his gun to where the bullet had come from and found someone standing on the street.

“Who are you and why are you in my town,” her voice rang and Geoff noticed her shotgun still pointing at his lovers rather than him. She started walking closer and her red hair was impossible to not notice, pulled up into a ponytail. Her gun made a click and the empty shell came out of the gun, her hand still on the trigger. “Are you going to answer?”

Geoff didn’t know what to do, he wanted to say something but he didn’t know what. He felt panic rising inside of him for not being able of saying anything.

“Lindsay.” Geoff heard Ryan’s voice. She looked at him and frowned, lowering her gun.

Geoff frowned and shared looks with Jack and Ray, while Ryan was standing up.

“Ryan?” She blinked a few times, her gun forgotten on the floor. “Ryan Haywood? Is it really you?” She asked, a smile appearing in her face.

“Lindsay Tuggey, you gorgeous woman,” he laughed, and she got pulled into a crushing hug. Now, both of them were laughing. “Saving my life as always.”

“I owed you some, nerd. Now we’re even,” she winked at him and Geoff frowned, making Jack giggle softly because of his jealousy. Ray made Geoff lower his gun. “Anyway, why are you here? Who are they?” She pointed at them, taking her gun back.

“Geoff, Ray and Jack. We’re heading to other state,” Ryan knew she didn’t need to give too much information. Lindsay nodded and looked at the other men. “So, your town?”

“Welcome to Sleepy Eye,” she said, bowing and making Ray giggled softly. “Population: one. If you don’t count the infected, of course.” She rolled her eyes and started moving the clicker with her feet. “They’re making my life terrible but, hey, I can’t complain. Bitches like Fireflies and soldiers aren’t around, so it’s a plus.”

“This is basically a big metal fortress,” Jack commented, looking at the barricades on the streets, and Lindsay gave him a serious look. “I’m guessing you don’t want us here.”

“It’s not that,” she said, looking down at her feet before shrugging. “You just sound like a friend of mine.” Lindsay started walking away from them and turned around, “Aren’t you coming? I thought you were just passing by.”

Ryan ran to get his bag, that had fell to the floor and he made the boys start to walk with her, still doubting if they should trust her.

“We want to get out of here and she knows where the exit is, so let’s follow her,” Ryan whispered at Geoff and he nodded, understanding their situation. “She’s an old friend, so we are safe.”

“If you say so,” Geoff shrugged and started walking along with Lindsay, introducing himself. Jack nodded and, with Ray on his side, jogged behind her.

Ryan looked at them, kicked the clicker and ran to catch them.

+

“Don’t touch anything, okay?” Lindsay glared at them when they entered to the garage of an old house, where she had her stuff. “If you do, I’m going to cut you,” and then she smiled, as if she was the loveliest thing in the world.

(Jack got shivers just from it.)

Ray sat down in one chair and looked at his surroundings, noticing all the explosives she had on the shelves and the magazines she had laying around. He also noticed an old truck at the back of the house, and it seemed intact.

“Does it work?” He asked her, pointing outside the back window.

“Not really,” she placed her hands on her waist, looking at it. “The engine is like new but the battery is dead, I used for another stuff. It doesn’t have gasoline either but I think there’s some in other houses around.”

She shrugged and looked at Ryan, beside him.

“Can we borrow it?” He asked her, and he could hear Geoff behind him asking if he was mad. Jack shushed him. “We can move faster with it. We could reduce days.”

“I guess so but you’ll have to search for the battery and the gasoline.” She shrugged. “You know how I like to work Haywood: if is of your interest, you have to do it.” Ryan nodded and asked if she could show them a map of the town.

Ray kept looking around the house, walking upstairs without any of them noticing.

On the inside, everything seemed intact: some vines started growing on the wall, coming from the window, and it looked like a tree had made his way over the last rooms in the house, the birds’ singing becoming stronger behind a door at the end of the hall.

Ray noticed clothes laying around one room, thinking that was the room she slept in.

He found man’s clothes lying around and a note.

He doubted if he should read it, fearing that Lindsay would found him but he was too curious about it.

Ray unfolded the note and started reading: the soft handwriting become messier along the words and the phrases that he wrote giving Ray goosebumps. It talked about how _he_ couldn’t take it anymore, how _he_ couldn’t live in this big metal fortress forever and even when _she_ was the most amazing girl in the world, he needed to leave Sleepy Eye.

And also, leave her.

Ray felt like an intruder when he finished reading the note.

Michael.

Michael was his name.

He abandoned her in this fortress, making Lindsay the queen, but she had no one to rule over.

She was alone and that, somehow, broke Ray’s heart.

“Ray?” He heard Jack’s voice calling him. “Where are you?”

He ran down quickly and found Lindsay waiting for him at the end of the stairs. “What were you doing up there?” Her voice and her glaring making Ray’s stomach jump.

“I heard some birds inside the house,” he answered. “I didn’t want to intrude, sorry.” She nodded and commented that at least there was something that wasn’t going to leave her.

Ray looked at her with an apologizing look but she shrugged it off.

 They split into two groups, searching for the gasoline and the battery.

Ryan and Geoff were searching for the gasoline, in the western part of the town, which was a bit more dangerous, and Jack, Ray and Lindsay (who Ryan somehow convinced to go with “ _his boys_ ” after some begging) were searching for the battery, not so far away from the house.

“It’s unusual seeing you having friends over other towns,” Geoff said while they were passing over a trench on the floor, water running at the end of it. Ryan shrugged and took Geoff’s helping hand, trying not to fall on it. “How do you know her?”

“She was my neighbor,” he jumped over and thanked Geoff, “and my friend. She’s quite young but she was awesome before shit went down. Well, she’s still is.” Ryan smiled, pointing at the barricades and all the infected bodies on a pile. He looked at Geoff’s face and chuckled. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? Me?” Geoff tried to giggle at it but it sounded too forced and finished looking down. “No.”

“Come here silly,” he took Geoff’s hand and kissed it. “I love you.”

“Shut up and focus, we’re searching for gasoline.” Geoff blushed softly but smiled at Ryan and gave his lover’s hand a soft squeeze.

“It shouldn’t be far from here,” Ryan pointed at the yellow house Lindsay told them to search.

+

Lindsay sat down on the house roof, alone. She left the boys sleep in one of the rooms she had available.

(It was that room where the tree has grown, but even little things were enough, in these times.)

She heard a noise coming from behind her and she turned, quickly, pointing with her shotgun at the person.

“Don’t shoot me, please!” Ray begged her.

“Holy fuck, dude,” she muttered, lowering her gun. “You know, it’s not funny coming behind people.”

“I know. Sorry about it.” He apologized and pointed at the spot next to her. “Can I sit?”  She shrugged and muttered a sure. Lindsay was sitting on the left side of the house, pointing at the east.

(Ray thought it must because she liked seeing the dawn but he didn’t feel like asking.)

“I found this,” he handed her the note.

“You fucker,” Lindsay took it from his hands quickly and hid it in her pocket. “I told you to not go into my stuff! This is personal!”

If she was really angry at him, she didn’t show it.

“It must be hard. Being here alone, killing infected and trying to survive.”

“What are you doing? Showing caring and sadness for me? I don’t need your apologetic looks.”

“ _You’re the queen of a metallic fortress_ ,” Ray quoted Michael’s card and looked her expression change. “What happened?” Ray knew the question gave him two options: option one, Lindsay answering at him, and option two, her being angry enough to throw him off the roof with one hand.

Ray only hoped for the first one.

Lindsay gave a soft sigh, and after looking around for infected, she looked at him. “Why? Why are you asking this? You don’t know how much it hurts-”

“I do,” Ray whispered and gave her a crooked smile. “I want to help. Each step you took into the house we were, you looked in pain. I want you to not be hurt anymore… or something close to it.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I should shut up now.”

Lindsay stayed in silence and after a while, she giggled.

“You’re too nice to be alive, you know?” She took a deep breath, head back and eyes closed. “He was my best friend, the only person I could rely on. My pillar. You know, that cheesy shit.” Ray only nodded. “We love each other very much but our thinking was so different, we just couldn’t stand it. We fought too many times and it was just time for one of us leave.” She chuckled sadly before saying “I’m the queen. I can’t leave this town.”

Ray nodded again and put his hand over Lindsay’s softly. “You’re the queen.” Lindsay gave Ray a curious look, frowning. “You can do the fuck you want, Lindsay. No one’s stopping you from leaving or staying or anything. You’re a fucking badass and, you’re going to let Michael stop you? Please.”

She looked at him and smiled, seeing the sky at the distance getting clearer and brilliant.

“You’re too young to know what to say, Ray. I’m sorry you’re living this. But thanks, I think I needed someone to bust up my confidence.” She winked at him and they stayed there, until they heard Geoff’s panic voice for not knowing where Ray was.

“I hope I see you again, Linds.” He said, getting up.

“I hope that too, Ray.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Now get the fuck out of my town.” Lindsay saw Ray disappearing into the roof’s hole; and soon after, she heard the car’s engine coming alive and leaving her backyard to the street and into the south.

And somehow, after so much thinking, Lindsay felt not only the Sleepy Eye’s queen, but the world’s.

+

The trip became silent.

The road was full of curves since there were cars parked on the road, some of them with the doors open in pairs but otherwise, the trip was going smoothly.

Jack was driving and he kept humming (or even signing in a very quiet voice), sometimes Geoff sang with him and even Ray found himself humming.  A few minutes and it started raining, and Ryan muttered how thankful he was that they could keep their clothes dry today.

“How did you meet?” Ray asked out of nowhere, making Ryan jump slightly for Ray’s voice taking him out of his thinking. Ray noticed Jack’s eyes on the reflection of the rearview mirror and Geoff turned around to see him. “Okay, I won’t ask again.”

“No, it’s not that,” Ryan answer. “You’re the first person to ask us that, actually.”

“Really?” He frowned at that. “How’s that possible?”

“People don’t care about stories or people these days, buddy,” Geoff said, eyes on Ray. “Also, we don’t show affection when there are another people around us, so people think we are just travelling together, I guess.”

Ray asked why they did it in front of him, he had seen them holding hand and sharing kisses more than once and he could have judged them.

“I don’t care about your opinion.”

“Geoff, don’t be like that,” Jack hit him softly on the arm. “Geoff and I met months before this whole thing started. I was an intern in a company where he worked, and you know, I realized I liked the tattooed man with an awesome laugh.” Geoff chuckled softly at Jack’s comment.

“I meet them a few years later, not in the best way,” Ryan answered.

“How’s that?” Ray asked, looking at the older man.

Jack glanced at him over the rearview mirror before talking. “He was being robed when he was coming back of getting food, you know, those stupid shits wanted to take out his ration because they didn’t have any cards,” Jack mumbled angrily. “We helped him, and we took care of you, right?”

“You did and I’m still thankful about it,” Ryan gave Ray a warm smile and leaned forward so he could kiss Geoff’s cheek and pinch it softly afterwards. “Thank you.”

“You should stop thanking us every time you remember it. We did what we needed to do.” Geoff looked at Ryan’s eyes and his smile. “Stop pinching my cheek, Ryan.”

Ryan laughed and sat straight again on his seat, Jack commenting something Ray didn’t catch.

Ray was smiling at them even when they didn’t realize, they were immersed on their stories, chuckling and talking. Ray liked that, because they seemed to forget what was happening to the country (or even the world, who the fuck knows.)

“What about you, Ray? Have you ever fallen in love?” Ryan asked while hitting his ribs with his elbow, smirking. Ray’s smile disappeared and looked down at his lap, then out of the window; Ryan stopped hitting him and leaned forward to look the boy’s face. “Are you okay? I’m very sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Ray shrugged and looked back at him, noticing Geoff’s eyes fixed on him. “It’s okay, I guess. And yes, I have fallen in love.”

Ray gave Ryan a gentle smile and he didn’t say anything else.

Their trip became, once again, silent.

+

After a few hours of driving, a rainy afternoon came upon them and Ryan convinced Jack that he needed to rest a bit.

(Jack didn’t enjoy driving for so long because his fingers get stiff after a while.)

So, they changed seats: Ryan and Ray moved to the front seats and Geoff and Jack on the back seats.

Neither of them dared to talk after what happened with Ray, he and Ryan looking sad and guilty respectively. Jack tried to lighten the mood but nothing worked, he just hopped that they would be good after a few hours.

Ray was getting tired of the mood on the car and he remembered something that was in his bag, searched for it and with the book on his hand and feet up on the dashboard, he started to read.

“What did the mermaid wear to her math class?” Ray asked, smile on his face and he noticed Ryan’s frown, Geoff confused look, and Jack’s side smile. “An algae bra.” Ray giggled.

Ryan couldn’t contain his laugh either and let out a _terrible._

“Where did you get that?” Geoff asked, smile on his face.

“A friend gave it to me.” Ray searched for other, passing the pages softly fearing that one of them could break for passing them too hard. “You wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind, it was too cheesy.”

Geoff laughed, and repeated it a few times for himself. “That’s stupid!”

“Do you know what's not right?” Ray asked. Ryan quickly answering _Left_ and received a _you ruined!_ from Jack, who was about to say that he killed the joke but it made Ray laugh, so he stayed quiet. “A book just fell on my head... I only have myself to blame. Oh, wait, I said it wrong!" Ray laughed and made Ryan laugh with him, and Jack smiled. “A book just fell on my head, I only have my _shelf_ to blame… that’s stupid,” he said before chuckling again.

Jack and Geoff shared looks and smiled; at least he had sense of humor.

+

Ryan had his head on his fist with elbow resting on the window, the other hand on the steering wheel; watching the trees on both sides of the street pass by quickly.

Everyone on the car fell asleep a few minutes ago, one behind the other after staying almost all the night up, fighting with the tiredness. He noticed Ray starting to move but he didn’t open his eyes and that worried Ryan: he knew when Geoff had nightmares and it seemed like Ray was having one himself.

He pulled the car on one side of the road and shook Ray as careful as he could, not wanting to startle him.

“Ray, wake up. C’mon.” Ray opened his eyes suddenly, filled with fear and trying to get out of Ryan’s grip. “Hey, it’s me, you’re safe.” The younger stopped moving and looked at Ryan before relaxing his shoulders and- he was shivering.

“I’m sorry,” Ray muttered and hid his hands on his hoodie, trying to stop himself from shaking more than he was. “I-I am sorry.”

“For what? You had a nightmare, it’s not your fault” Ryan caressed softly Ray’s hair, feeling the boy leaning at the touch. “Are you okay?”

Ray shrugged and took a deep breath, feeling Ryan’s warm hand on his cheek now.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. It was just a bad dream, believe me.”

They stayed in silence for a while, Ryan’s fingers searching Ray’s because they were freezing. The younger boy let Ryan hold his hands and tangled their fingers together.

Ray started feeling warm and thanked Ryan, too flustered to look at him. “Do you want to talk about it?” Ryan asked but the boy only shook his head. “Alright. What about we continue our trip?”

Ray only nodded and Ryan continued driving on the road.

“His name was Joel,” Ray whispered a few hours after he woke up, impossible for him to fall asleep again.

Ryan looked over the rearview mirror and noticed his lovers still sleeping- he wanted to listen to Ray without interruption.

“He was my best friend and I liked him too much, but I was afraid to tell him.” He stopped for a moment before continuing. “He disappeared one day from the boarding school and… I thought he was dead. Thirty six days later he returned, as a Firefly and I didn’t know what to think.”

“I can imagine it was hard,” Ryan commented but Ray chuckled.

“He was going to stop being a Firefly for me: took his tag and threw it away.” Ryan heard a broken sigh but he didn’t say anything about it. “The infected found us and… he got bitten. We got bitten, and we wanted to spent our last days together but, do you know how hard is too see your loved one dying and you don’t getting any symptoms? One day he left. He leaved a letter but I-I’m not strong enough to read it.” Ray looked at Ryan and whispered “Silly, isn’t?”

Ryan didn’t say anything as Ray did the same, but the older took Ray’s hand and squeezed it gently. Ray squeezed back and after taking a deep breath, he realized that his chest felt lighter.

It was a good start, a least.

+

“It seems it’s blocked,” Geoff commented, looking over the steering wheel.

He has been driving since dawn rose.

“We should go through the city. It’s better that turning back, we got a half tank of gasoline and returning will consume the other half.” Jack nodded at Geoff from the back seat, Ryan’s head resting on his shoulder.

When they were driving though the city, Ray noticed someone in front of them. A lady, holding his side as if she was bleeding. “It seems she’s hurt,” Ray said when he heard the woman’s begs, asking for help. “We should help her.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, buddy.” Geoff said, stopping the car harshly and putting his seatbelt on. “Put your seatbelt. Ryan! Jack!” Ryan woke up startled, feeling Jack’s shoulder leaving and finding him plugging his seatbelt. “She’s not even hurt.”

Ray was about to say something when Geoff accelerated quickly and heard the woman screaming saying “ _Fuck! Go, go_!”

A bullet left a hole on their windshield and Geoff ran over the woman (not on purpose, of course, she was the one who didn’t fucking move out of the way.) They were people surrounding them and Geoff drove fast as he could to get them out of that situation. Ryan’s window broke because they threw at them a fucking _brick_ and bullets were hitting the back side of the truck.

(On his way, the brick hitting Ryan slightly on the head.)

“Geoff!” Ray yelled at him, seeing a bus coming from his side and hitting them.

Geoff could barely control the steering wheel and they smashed into a garage, breaking the metallic door and finding themselves on a shop in the middle of the city.

They crashed on a wall, the windshield breaking in little pieces before the car stopped working. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” Ray said, feeling Geoff’s look over him after catching his breath.

Jack coughed and with shaking hands tried to take out his seatbelt. “We better get out,” he said. Ryan was trying to do the same thing and Ray was helping Geoff with his. Suddenly, Ray’s door opened and a pair of hands grabbed his hoodie, pulling him out of the car.

“Fuck!” Geoff held Ray back hard, trying to fight the other man’s strength.

He wasn’t going to lose him, not now and not in this situation.

Geoff felt a hand on his neck ( _when did the door open?)_ and abruptly his head was being pushed against the hand break several times before being pulled out of his seat. Geoff heard Ryan yelling something and at the corner of his eye, he caught Jack struggling with someone.

Geoff hit the man who was holding him against a wall behind them, head first and, taking his knife out, cutting his neck. He went after Ryan’s man, who was trying to strangulate his lover and tackled the man before stabbing him. Geoff heard something break and ran to the other side of the car, seeing Jack with half of a brick on his hand and the man with a bloody forehead.

“Stop moving!” they heard a man’s voice, noticing their boy being dragged outside by the man, a hand wrapped around Ray’s neck. Suddenly, while everyone was silent for a moment, Ray bit hard the man’s arm and then he felt a hand slapping his cheek hard, making him stumble to the floor.

Geoff groaned and launched himself forward, taking the man on his arms and hitting his head against a desk.  It left the desk bloody and the man laying on the ground.

“That fucker,” Ray muttered, feeling Geoff’s hand on his arm to help him get up. They jogged to the truck, seeing a Ryan leaned against the car and a worried Jack at his side. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine. It’s okay,” Ryan said slowly, nodding at them. Geoff threw their respectively bags to each one and said that they needed to leave as quickly as they could.

“Watch out!” Jack shouted, bringing Ryan at the floor with him and hearing a window breaking on top of them. “We need to get out!”

“I’ll take care of them, stay behind me.” Geoff said, hiding behind a desk and hearing the men’s footsteps coming. “I’ll need help, kiddo.” Ray accepted the gun Jack was giving at him, Ryan’s arm over his shoulder and the man did look a lot paler. “I’ll trust you on this one, okay?”

Ray nodded and took the safety out of the gun.

The extra shooting classes he took on the boarding school would _finally_ become handy.

He started walked around a corner, noticing that they had crashed on a convenience store after seeing some bottles of water lying around, and next to the bottles, two bricks.

Ray took them and hid them on his back.

+

They were more men that they thought but one after another were coming down the hole on the garage, searching for them. Geoff shot a few as Ray did the same, and when no one else came, Geoff moved forward, checking it wasn’t another trap.

The street was empty except for a few cars’ skeletons lying around.

“They’re all dead,” Geoff said. “We should move.”

Ray still had the gun in hand, just in case. Jack still had Ryan’s arm up on his shoulders and Ryan kept muttering that he was fine but didn’t fight with their help. Geoff noticed a garage door closed in front of them and tried to open it, finding that it wasn’t locked. He pulled it up, and held it. “Go in, Ray. Search for something to kept it open.”

Ray crouched and entered the room.

“Holy shit,” he muttered. “Uh, I don’t think there’s something really usable here.” He looked at the door’s chain and, with both feet on the floor, pulled it. The door opened enough and Geoff crouched and held it on the other side.

“C’mon Ryan,” Jack said gently and both of them passed under the door. Geoff closed it gently behind them (he didn’t want to make any noise just in case there was someone else around) and when they turned, they saw a bodies lying around, naked and their clothes pilled on a corner. “Oh god,” Jack muttered. “What we go ourselves into?”

“We’ll be fine,” Geoff commented and walked around, finding a paper where it said how many clothes and how many food each person had on them when the hurters ambushed them. “We need to get going,” he continued.

“There are stairs over here,” Ray said, pointing at the door he opened moments before. Geoff nodded and took Ryan’s other arm, putting it on his shoulder as Jack was doing.

“I’m fine,” Ryan slurred out, and Jack and Geoff shared worried looks. Ray was walking in front of them, to Geoff’s dislike, but the hallway of the next floor seemed empty and no one could hear anything strange.

They entered to a room full of mattresses and blankets. The room where the hunters sleep… well, slept.

“We need to find somewhere safe,” Jack said, looking over at Ryan. “We cannot continue with him like this, it’s too dangerous for us and for him.” Geoff bit his lip and nodded.

“There’s a hotel at the end of the street,” Ray pointed out the window, looking the big sign of an old famous chain of hotels. Ray ran out to another window at the end of the hall and stuck his head out of it. “The street is full with old cars but it seems empty. We can make it.”

“Could you stop moving for one second?!” Geoff almost yelled at Ray, feeling nervous with the kid sticking his head out and moving ahead of them. Ray jumped slightly at Geoff’s loud voice and nodded.

Jack shot Geoff a hard look after sitting Ryan against a wall. He took off Ryan’s bag, fighting with the man’s struggle and saying that he was fine.

“Shut up,” Jack said, taking his lover’s cheeks on his hands. “Did you hit your head?”

Ryan just nodded.

Jack’s hands wandered in Ryan’s head, searching for blood. Geoff cursed when Jack looked at his hand and saw blood, and started asking what were their names and his own.

“Ryan-” he stopped when Jack told him to say his full names. “James Ryan Haywood,” Ryan frowned as Jack pressed something soft against his wound. “Jack Pattillo, Geoff Ramsey, and Ray…Ray…”

“Can you not remember?” Jack asked calmly. Geoff looked worried at him, stopping his walking.

“I haven’t told you my last name,” Ray said, on the door, looking over the hallway. “I’m Ray Narvaez Jr.”

“Ray Narvaez Jr.,” Ryan looked at him and smiled softly, Ray giving him back the smile. Ryan’s cut wasn’t something to worry about, the blood stopping a few minutes later after Jack put a gauze on it.

“Do you have nauseas? You feel dizzy?” Ryan nodded for both of them. “You speak fine now, but your balance isn’t the best. Follow my finger, Ryan.” Jack moved his index finger around, up and down and left and right, noticing Ryan’s eyes following lazily but at good pace. “Seems you got a concussion, love,” Jack said smiling softly at Ryan.

“He’ll be fine?” Geoff asked behind them, his fingers pressed against his lips and a worried look that he won’t shake it off until Jack said Ryan will be fine. Ray smiled softly at Geoff’s expression: in a minute he could be a badass leader and the next one he could be a ball of feelings, love and worry showing in his looks. “Jack.”

“Yes, Geoff. He’ll need to rest, but with us keeping an eye on him nothing wrong can happen.” Ryan felt Jack’s hand over his hair and moving to his cheek, and he hummed in response. “C’mon, I’ll carry you.”

“What? Fuck no,” Ryan said, trying to get up without help. Jack snorted and helped him, muttering how stubborn he was. “Give me my bag, I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t try to be a fucking idiot,” Geoff said, giving him his bag. “Jack is going to help you, you want it or not. Understood?” And there it was again, the badass leader. Ryan was saying something under his breath when Jack helped him to walk forward. “C’mon Ray, let’s go to that building.”

Ray nodded and jogged behind Geoff after they exited the building with Ryan and Jack following behind.

Ray had the gun still in hand and he had never felt so useful in his life.


	3. SUMMER III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry it took so long! Thank you so much for those kind words, they really made my week! (っ◕‿◕)っ❤

That was the first thing Ryan noticed when he returned to his senses, the second thing was that he was supposed to feel cold but he wasn’t. He moved his hand and felt something soft under it: a blanket. (Ryan’s knows perfectly how Jack’s favorite blanket feels under the touch.)

At his other side, he felt a warm body lying next to him.

He opened his eyes and he was thankful that it was dark- the only light coming from the following room and the sounds of burning wood reaching his ears. Ryan felt lightheaded but comparing how he felt before, it was a lot better. He looked over to his right and snuggling next to him was Ray, fast asleep.

Ryan’s hands wandered and lay on top of Ray’s hair, caressing it softly.

“You’re up,” Jack said, walking next to him and kneeling on one side, hand on Ryan’s hair and lips on his forehead, leaving a soft kiss. “How are you feeling?” Ryan looked thankful at Jack, the soft sound of his voice was quite nice. “Are you still dizzy?”

Ryan shook his head and both of them looked at Ray’s sleeping form, who didn’t stir even once.

“I’m better,” he answered still caressing Ray’s hair.

“Do you remember anything?” Jack asked a few moments later, the rain still hitting the roof. Ryan frowned and shook his head, mumbling that he only remembers a few bits. “Not even when I woke you up minutes ago?” Ryan said _you did?_ and Jack chuckled silently. “You got a concussion-”

“I do remember that. Ray Narvaez Jr., isn’t right?” Ryan smiled proudly.

“We walked a few miles, and then you fell unconscious when we were walking into the building, scaring the shit out of us but you did well, Ryan,” Jack said with a half smile and Ryan smiled back. “We found hunters on the way but less than we expected. Night was already falling when we got here.”

“Where’s Geoff?” Ryan asked.

“Doing a round around the building, you know him. He’ll be back in a few-” Jack fell silent when he saw Ray’s body stir softly but it only move to cuddle closer to Ryan and hid his face on the blanket. “He’s a good shooter, almost as good as Geoff.”

“That’s a big compliment coming from you, Jack,” Ryan said and looked with a serious expression at Jack. “What are we doing next?” Jack stayed quiet for a moment, hearing footsteps on the puddles of rain and when he turned around, he saw Geoff looking at them from the door frame.

“Good to see you up, Rye-bread,” and Ryan couldn’t contain smile at Geoff.

(It’s been too long since he last used that nickname on him and he didn’t remember how his heart got warmer when he used it.)

“We’re heading south west from here, and then west. The bridge at the end of the city is our way out.”

“Good,” Ryan mumbled when he felt Geoff’s hand caress his hair as Jack did. Geoff took his free hand and kissed it, before resting it again on the blanket. “We’re leaving tomorrow?”

“If you’re feeling good, yes. If not, we should stay here until you’re fine,” Geoff said.

“I’m fine and I’ll be a lot better tomorrow morning, okay?” Ryan answered, already closing his eyes (as if it was his way to say _I don’t want to fight and I don’t want to discuss it_ ) and Geoff shook his head, crooked smile on his face.

“You rest and we’ll see tomorrow.” Jack pressed his lips on Ryan’s forehead and did the same with Ray’s. Geoff and Jack leaved the room, whispering to each other things that Ryan couldn’t understand.

Ray’s mind was filled with thoughts, the kind of ones that you get when you’re almost falling asleep and your mind is moving hundred miles an hour and, for some reason, he couldn’t but think about Ray. He cares about the boy, he wants to protect him with his life and he doesn’t want him to be sad.

Maybe he cares about Ray as much as he cares about Geoff and Jack, maybe he doesn’t, but right now he doesn’t have the mind to thought about this.

Now, he was falling on Morpheus’s arms.

+

Ray woke up before Ryan the next morning, feeling the man’s fingers tangled on his hair.

He smiled at Ryan’s peaceful expression (it was something he was thankful to see) and, without waking up the other man, got up. Dawn seemed it was going to go out in a few minutes; all the rain clouds going north and leaving them with a clear sky.

Ray looked over the window that had view of the city, noticing all the puddles the rain had left.  He moved his hands over his arms, over his hoodie, not noticing before how cold the day was.

(Clear sky days are always the colder, for some reason.)

He thought about how worried he was for Ryan yesterday. The man almost collapsed on their way to the abandoned building and Ray didn’t remember feeling his heart beating so hard in a long time- at least not for somebody.

(Now he started thinking about Joel and how much he missed him, and then he feels dizzy because Ryan, Jack and Geoff are pretty awesome, and what if he feels something else for them?)

( _You’re getting crazy, Narvaez_.)

“Good morning.” Ray jumped and turned around, seeing Ryan sitting on the mattress and looking at him. He looked a lot more aware of what was happening in his surroundings and he had regained back the color on his face.

“Hi,” Ray couldn’t help but smile. “How are you feeling? You scared us yesterday.” Ryan gave him and smile and he made a move to get up but Ray almost ran to his side to stop him. “Why don’t you wait until Jack checks on you?”

“Jack what on what?” The bearded man looked over the door frame and smiled to both of them. “The kids are up, Geoff,” Jack said looking over the other room before entering.

“Kids? C’mon, it wasn’t my fault,” Ryan said, looking at Jack. Geoff entered behind him but leaned against the wall. “I’m feeling fine. Can I have you permission to get my ass up from here?”

Jack chuckled and held his hand at Ryan. “Let’s see how your balance is today.”

“Yeah, you were wobbling all over the place yesterday,” Geoff said jokingly. Ryan took Jack’s hand and got up on his feet, feeling suddenly dizzy for getting up so fast, and a there was a twinge on his head, but he smiled at Geoff anyway.

“See? Not wobbly at all.” Ryan caught Ray’s relieved smile, seeing him on his feet. “Now, can we go?”

Geoff looked at Jack, and the bearded man nodded, as if he was saying _yeah, he looks fine._

“Fine, fine, let’s get going then.” Geoff and took their bags from the floor, Jack took the blanked and both of them disappeared through the door. Ryan and Ray did the same, but when Ray was walking out of the room, Ryan stopped him and smiled.

“Thanks for staying with me last night,” and Ray blushed, looking down and muttering it was nothing. “I’m sorry I worried you.” Ray nodded and when he looked up, the last thing he was expecting were Ryan’s lips pressing against his. His face became red and he got goosebumps, making Ryan laugh about his reaction. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

Ryan leaved the room, leaving a blushed Ray smiling stupidly at himself. He giggled softly, the tip of his finger touching his own lips but he shook his head. _Don’t start acting like a teenager, Ray, c’mon,_ and he jogged to the hall, finding the man waiting for him.

Now, every time Ray remembered the kiss, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Silly fucking Ryan.

+

They leaved the building and started walking to the bridge, appearing at the end of the main road, shiny, as if the construction didn’t have years old.

Ray wished to be walking on that main road without caring if hunters or infected or fireflies or soldiers saw them but, instead, Geoff decided to walk by the other streets and alleys that seemed to get more cramped the more they walked on them.

“Get down,” Geoff said, pulling him down behind a car.

Then Ray saw two persons throwing something into the lake under a little bridge. The lake probably had formed because of the water pipes breaking and spilling so much water that filled the tunnel under the stone bridge up front. It was impossible for them to walk over or under the bridge, so they had to take a secondary road.

“Okay, I don’t think they saw us,” Geoff said after they heard a truck moving away.

“We need to cross the lake and the only way is going inside those buildings.” Jack commented, looking in front of them and pointing at the vehicles under the lake. “It looks deep but we need to get to that truck’s roof and then we can cross it, so there’s that.” Ryan didn’t wait for Jack to finish before walking into the little lake and making his shoes and part of his jeans wet.

“C’mon, hope water doesn’t bother you too much,” he said at Ray, walking into the deepest part. Geoff and Jack followed him and Ray only could walk to the hood of a van that was sticking out of the water before stopping at the edge.

Geoff turned around to see him and he frowned when he saw Ray looking with fear at the water that was even deeper than they thought. “What are you waiting, Ray? It’s just water.”

“I don’t know how to swim,” he muttered.

It clicked in Geoff’s mind: it made _total_ sense.

He was still young when everything started happening, he probably never went to a pool or a beach. Geoff sighed and told Ryan to get the floating plank over to his side.

Suddenly, they heard a car and shooting on the stone bridge in front of them.

“Down!” Jack said and after taking a deep breath, they went underwater, and Ray felt panic growing inside him- only two options were running quickly into his mind: either going into the water or leaving the hunter shoot at him and dying because of blood loss.

He didn’t like the latter option.

And taking a deep breath, he threw himself to the water.

Ryan looked up and saw a hunter looking over the bridge but luckily, not to the lake under the bridge.

When the hunter disappeared over them, they gents stuck their heads over the water to breath. Ryan heard a curse behind him and after that a “Ray!” and Geoff looking around them but not finding the boy.

Ray stuck his head out of the water, gasping and feeling as if the water was pulling him down trying its best to take Ray with him. Quickly, he found himself under the green water, moving his arms and legs desperately, attempting to swim.

Of course, he wasn’t doing his best.

He felt a pair of strong arms tugging him up and, before he knew, cold air hit his face and voices were calling him. He started coughing when his back hit solid surface and breathing heavily, frantically filling his lungs with oxygen.

“You’re an idiot! You want to kill yourself?!” It was Geoff’s voice, scolding him.

“I didn’t have another option!” Ray answered between short breaths, “and if I wanted to kill myself, I’d had done it by now!” And somehow, he regretted telling the truth. The look on Jack’s face was heartbroken and Ryan’s gasp was something he wouldn’t like to hear but Ray shrugged it off, looking away and trying to get up on his own. “I’m fine. Get the plank and let’s get moving.”

Maybe it was Ray’s actions or the bitter way he said it but Ryan followed instructions as if was Geoff’s voice telling him what to do. Ray got up, shoving Geoff’s hand away and getting up on the plank, crossing the lake and into the building that would take them to the other side. When he turned around, Geoff and Jack were walking on the shore and into the building and Ryan behind him all the time.

Ray could hear Geoff muttering _fucking flooded city_ when he jumped over the window and his foot fell into a puddle, making his jean ever more wet, if that was even possible.

“Do you think the hunters are still here?” Ray whispered, not expecting anyone to answer him.

“We’ll find out,” Geoff said.

(Ray felt quite relieved that at least he wasn’t ignoring him or something.)

+

They didn’t found any hunters and Geoff thought that was strange since he knew there was still people on this city (they saw them a few hours ago, where’s everyone now?)

They were making their way to the bridge, every time more closely to it than before, meaning that they would be out of this town before they knew it and Ray was thankful about it.

The big buildings around them were intimidating, and after so many years of being there and with no one taking care of them, nature was making its way into them and it was scary, since they looked like they were going to fall over them any moment now.

As if someone had read his thoughts, there was suddenly a shout behind them (on one of the shortest buildings) and then, an explosion under the biggest building.

“Fuck,” muttered Geoff.

The building in front of them fell down more quickly than they thought and suddenly a cloud of dust was moving towards them. “Come here,” Geoff said suddenly, pulling him hard to his chest, covering him with his shirt.

He heard Geoff’s back collide with something metallic- a car. The bright sky became obscure, but Ray didn’t want to move, he was shaking in Geoff’s arms. Geoff had his head buried on Ray’s shirt, and even when it was an uncomfortable position, they didn’t mind.

Then, silence.

There was a loud muffled sound around them, and when Ray started coughing, he knew they were _in_ the cloud. There wasn’t somewhere else to go, and now, he was going to die because of it? Because the plan of some stupid hunters?

But then, when he felt as if his lungs were being filled with the disintegrated cement, a hand came to his face and when he opened his eyes, there was a gas mask on his face and Geoff was looking at him, his mouth and nose covered with his own shirt.

“Geoff?!” They could hear Jack’s muffled voice over his own gas mask, and when Ray turned his head around, he could see the shape of the man walking through the cloud. “Ray?!”

“Here!” Ray screamed back, trying to be loud enough through the gas mask. He saw Geoff’s eyes closed and he felt as if his heart stopped beating. “Jack!”

He saw Jack running at them, Ryan not so far behind. Jack pulled him away from Geoff’s, as if he didn’t weight anything. Ryan was taking Geoff on his arms, and they ran to the closest building, closing the doors and all the windows in the process.

“They didn’t want us here, for sure,” Jack commented, leaving Ray on the floor once again. He could hear a harsh cough and when he turned around, Geoff was throwing up and Ryan was on his side, caressing his back.

“There you go,” Ryan whispered at him. Geoff didn’t inhale too much from the cloud, which was a good sign; he was quick to cover himself with his shirt.

“Fucking hunters,” Geoff muttered, spitting the residues on his mouth. “I’m going to cut their heads off.” He took Ryan’s bottle of water, only to rinse his mouth.

“You saved me,” Ray said, looking at the older man. Geoff turned around and looked at him. “Again.”

Geoff shrugged, moving away from his own vomit, still coughing. “We need to get moving, c’mon.”

Ray wanted to say something else, but he didn’t dare. He felt Jack’s hand on his shoulder, and the man was asking him if he felt fine.

Ray nodded and followed Geoff.

(Ray didn’t know what to think, or even _feel,_ about Geoff now.)

+

“Thank you,” Ray said to Geoff when they were walking on the outskirts of the city, on some forest. Geoff looked at him and frowned. “For saving my life.”

“Stop saying thanks, kid,” he answered and Ray jogged next to him. The moonlight was enough to illuminate their path, and they didn’t think about using their flashlights, since the hunters could be around and they didn’t want more trouble. “I had to,” Geoff said.

“You don’t sacrifice yourself because you have to,” Ray quickly answered. Geoff looked at him, opened his mouth but shut it, then he sighed. Ray looked at Ryan and Jack walking in front of them. “Less for a boy like me.”

“Maybe I would,” Geoff looked at him. “Come here,” he muttered and he took Ray’s hand on his, giving him a soft squeeze. “You’re not a job, or at least I don’t consider you as so. You’re a human, even if you’re the possible cure. I wouldn’t like to lose you.” Ray nodded, “and I think Ryan and Jack wouldn’t either.”

Ray answered with some quick comment that made Geoff laugh, and a few minutes later, he asked “Do you think we’ll get to the south in time, Geoff?”

“We will, Ray. I don’t think the Fireflies are going to leave soon, if they have orders.” Geoff answered, hand still holding Ray’s. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Fireflies. Of what would happen to me,” Ray answered.

Geoff stopped the boy and pulled him into a hug, wrapping his longs arms around the boy’s form and leaving a kiss on Ray’s forehead. Ray closed his eyes, feeling somehow safe in between Geoff’s arms. “Don’t be, we’ll always kept an eye on you. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,” and Ray did what he was told so. He didn’t worry anymore about it and he found himself feeling well in Geoff’s arms, and Geoff cursed himself.

He had become too attached to Ray.

(Goddamned.)

+

Travelling wasn’t becoming easier but it could be worse.

They didn’t found hunters but, instead, a lot of infected in the woods. More than once they had to put their masks on because of the spores making the ambient foggy, and every time Ray walked through them without any mask on, Geoff shot at him worried looks.

(“I promise you I’m fine, I have done this a few times.”)

Their journey had a good pace, but everything couldn’t be roses and hearts: Jack started coughing at some point of their walking and, when they were walking up the hills to find a suburb on the other side, Jack had difficulties to breath.

“Are you okay?” Geoff asked.

He was making him sit down on a rock, hands on his lover’s back. Geoff didn’t care that Jack nodded, because he was coughing hard and Ray swore he was going to see Jack cough part of his lungs out if he continued like that.

“Jack?” Ryan asked, walking over them.

Jack took some deep breaths that were barely breaths but he nodded, saying that they could continue. Ryan frowned when he saw Jack starting to sweat: it was a sunny day at first but after the afternoon fell, the clouds started to roll by and the cold, fresh wind hit.

“You’re warm, Jack,” Ryan said, hands on his lover’s neck, moving to his cheeks and forehead. Geoff and Ryan shared looks but Jack got up, ignored them.

“I’m fine, I’m sure.”

“You’re not fi-” but Ryan stopped mid sentence when he thought about the symptoms Jack had. He didn’t know if they could read the panic on his face, but he quickly said “we should rest today, Geoff. Night is falling, and we have been walking all day long.”

Geoff looked at Ryan’s eyes, which looked as if he was begging.

“Fine, I’m sure one of those houses would serve us as shelter.” Jack groaned and started walking head of them and Ray couldn’t help but follow behind him.

Most of the houses were open: doors kicked out, windows broken, and even some of them had lost their walls with the time and now the only thing left was open spaces that lead to what were kitchens or living rooms.

For Ray, it was still fascinating.

A few hours later, Geoff was sitting on the main stairs of the house with Ray on his side, both of them could hear Jack’s and Ryan’s soft murmurs over one of the bedroom doors but neither of them could understand what they were saying.

“Can I ask you something, Geoff?” Ray asked, his fingers playing with his hoodie which had holes starting to appear on the edges of it. “You have a ring, but you’re not married to Jack nor Ryan,” and he pointed at the ring on Geoff’s finger.

“Ah,” Geoff sighed, his fingers caressing the cold metal wrapping around his own flesh. “I was married to a lovely woman once.” He smiled to the memory. “She was a badass in everything: life, love, art. We were really happy and… well, the universe just took her away from me but I’m quite thankful about that.”

“Are you really thankful?” Ray asked, his eyes almost wide open.

“She doesn’t live in this hell, Ray. I wouldn’t like for her to see this, it would be awful.” Geoff tried to shake his sadness away but Ray asked how they died. “She was in a car accident.”

“Whoa.”

“Whoa? Ouch, that’s pretty heartless.”

“No, is not that. I had never heard of someone dying because of that.”

“Oh, I see.” They stayed a few minutes in silence. “Can I ask you something, Ray? Do you have a mother or a father? Or is Lyra your mother?” Ray laughed softly at it.

“God no, Lyra is just someone that looked over me when I was lost,” Ray answered but the smile on his face disappeared. “You know something? I had a mom and dad but I don’t remember them. Everyone in the boarding school talked about how much they missed their own parents but I don’t have a single memory of them.”

“I’m sorry,” Geoff whispered, feeling guilty for asking that question.

“Don’t be,” Ray said, “I mean, I got you three, right? For me that’s enough.”

Geoff felt his heart melted and wrapped an arm around Ray’s shoulder, holding him closer. They were close for a moment and when they separated, they were still too close. Ray’s smile was warm and the only thought that wandered on Geoff’s mind was that he wanted to kiss him.

So he did.

+

Ryan could hear Ray and Geoff’s murmurs through the walls yet he didn’t understand them, they were just muffled sound on the background. Right now his hands were wandering over Jack’s form, searching for a bite or any form of scratch on his body.

“I told you I wasn’t bitten, Ryan,” Jack said, looking at his lover. He was curling himself on a corner, blanket around him, his back resting on the wall and his eyes looking tiredly at Ryan -maybe it was the fever catching on. “You were on my side all the time, you know I wasn’t bitten. Also,” he stopped let out a cough, “you know bites takes days to deploy the sickness.”

Ryan stopped to look at him. “Fine,” he muttered under his breath and sat down next to him. “You’re warmer than before.” Ryan’s hand was on Jack’s forehead and, even when his tone was rough and serious, his eyes were full of worry.

His mind was thinking a lot of things at the same time: maybe it were the spores, they had been walking around zones without seeing any of them and- what if they didn’t notice?

“Ryan,” Jack said with the softest voice he could, taking his lover’s hand. “I’ll be fine.”

Most of the people didn’t know that the infection started with flu symptoms but that’s why it spread so fast. Ryan knew it very well, seeing that his family died because of it but one thing he didn’t want was seeing Jack dying because of it: Fever, coughs, shivering, nauseas, then difficulties to breathe and finally, lungs failing- Ryan knew the symptoms at the top of his head.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Jack said, “but if I’m wrong, you know what to do.”

Ryan stayed in silence. He knew what to do: bullet through the head, it didn’t matter in what situation.

He nodded and bit his lip, looking down at his hands.

“I’ll be fine,” Jack quickly responded, hand caressing Ryan’s cheek. “Maybe it’s just a bad flu, don’t you think?” Yes, there was the possibility of being a normal and common flu, but what if it wasn’t? Ryan nodded and kissed his lover’s forehead.

“The first aid kit had ibuprofen, right? I wouldn’t like your fever to become worse,” Ryan said, already searching Geoff’s bag.

“No, I used it when Geoff got sick,” Jack said, looking at his lover. Ryan frowned and commented that he didn’t remember seeing Geoff getting sick. “He got sick a few weeks later after you left,” Ryan nodded, feeling a faint pain on his heart.

“I’ll go outside, to search if there’s anything useful.” Ryan said. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” Jack gave him a tired smile and a nod, and Ryan couldn’t help but smile sadly. “I love you, Jack.”

“Love you too, Ry.”

With that, Ryan leaved the room.

Geoff and Ray turned their heads when they saw Ryan walking out the room.

“How’s he?” Ray asked but Ryan moved them over so he could go down the stairs. “Hey!” but Geoff stopped the younger man with a hand on his chest, looking at his lover walking down the stairs.

“Take this, go and sit with Jack, can you?” Geoff ordered Ray, giving him his rifle. Ray only frowned and opened his mouth to object but the look Geoff gave him was sign that something was wrong.

“Fine,” he answered and got up.

When Geoff watched him disappear through the door, he got up and walked downstairs, searching for Ryan. It didn’t take him too long and he found his lover sitting on the steps in front of the house, with his hands pulling his hair.

“Hey, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Geoff said, crouching at his level and trying to take Ryan’s hands out of his own hair. “Ryan,” He called. “What’s wrong?”

Ryan mumbled the elder’s name over and over again, not daring to look at him but the sobs that came out from his mouth were enough. Geoff’s expression was full with worry because he was watching his lover cry, for the first time, after all this years.

He pulled him closer, caressing his back soothingly. “God, Ryan, what’s wrong?” He asked, hearing Ryan breaking down in his arms.

“I think- I think Jack’s infected,” Ryan answered.  Geoff felt as if those words punched him straight into the stomach, taking the breath out of him. “I’m not sure, but-” Ryan gasped, trying to hold his tears. “Fuck.”

“You aren’t sure?” Geoff asked, trying to sound calm about it.

“He doesn’t have a bite but he could have breathed the spores. I-I just don’t know, Geoff.” The older gent shushed him, pressing Ryan against his chest, caressing his hair. He wanted to mutter _it’s going to be okay_ but, for the first time, he didn’t actually know if they were going to be okay.

Night was already over them when they decided that one of them should search around for supplies and, after a few minutes discussing it, Geoff stayed curled up closer to Jack on the house while Ryan and Ray walked off the house.

+

“Can I ask what’s wrong with Jack?”

Ray said, after Geoff and he were walking down the main road, guns in hand.

What they found around was barely usable, and it seemed that suburb was long ago abandoned, which was not surprise since the east-south part of the county was the first place for the infection to attack.

“He’s sick,” Geoff replied, still looking forwards. He was trying not to think of Jack: he wasn’t sure if he was or not infected, and all he thought that _everything_ was going to be fine.

“Do you think he’s-?” but before Ray could finish his question, they heard some footsteps over the grass a few feet away from them. “Shit,” he muttered to himself, pulling his gun out. Ray could see by the corner of his eye, Geoff was already pointing forward were the sound came from in first place.

“Who the _fuck_ are you and what are you doing here?” A voice asked them and, when the light hit him, they could see a boy walking right towards them, on his hand a gun that was pointing at Ray. “Put the guns down.” The boy had his hair sticking under his beanie, his shirt was green and his pants black but Ray could easily distingue the red stickiness on the upper part of his leg.

Ray saw how he took another step and limped when he did.

“We don’t want trouble,” Ray heard Geoff’s voice, calmly answering the question.

“I don’t like to repeat myself, you know,” the boy talked again. “Put the gun down.”

“I’m Geoff, he’s Ray. We are walking to the South and we _need_ to stay here tonight,” Geoff answered, while lowering his gun, showing that they weren’t going to do him any harm, but Ray knew that it was mostly because the boy was pointing the gun at him. “I can see you’re hurt.”

“Do you fucking care?” He limped closer to them and Ray actually doubted if he should put down his gun. “Give me everything you have, everything you got from here.”

“We haven’t find anything,” Ray muttered, his voice less shaky that he thought.

“Bullshit” and the boy shook his gun to Ray’s face dangerously.

“It’s true!” Geoff almost yelled, trying to stop the boy from shooting Ray. “Look, we got a first aid kit, I can help you and after tonight, we continue our paths.” Geoff cursed himself for saying something about the first aid, since he made promise Jack they only would use it on emergency cases and this wasn’t the case.

The boy lowered his gun slightly and nodded, looking over Geoff. “Fine,” but the gun was quickly over Ray’s temple, making his breath hitch, “but don’t think about doing anything stupid, _Geoff_.”

Geoff saw Ray nodding at him.

“Okay, I’d lead the way,” and Geoff only waited for the boy’s nod before he would start walking.

A few minutes later was when Ray noticed that they weren’t walking to _the_ house.

They have been walking as far as possible from the house where Jack and Ryan were. Ray knew that Geoff wasn’t stupid; the last thing he would want was putting in danger his lovers.

They stopped in a house that seemed firm enough and Michael basically pushed them inside. He seemed tired after the walk and with a bloody wound, it wouldn’t feel the best.

(God knows how he wasn’t already dead.)

Michael sat down on an old couch, lifting all the dust that had gathered after years. Michael was still pointing his gun at Ray, knowing that the kid was kind of Geoff’s soft spot.

“Leave all your guns on the floor over there,” Michael told them and Geoff, moving carefully, leaved them next to the door. After that, he took out the first aid kit and started taking out all of the necessary things he might need to properly stitch up the younger boy.

Ray only observed them in silence, hearing Michael’s complains and Geoff’s _sorry_ while he was cutting Michael’s pant, before getting to work on the wound. It seemed like Michael relaxed, seeing that he wasn’t going to bleed out to death and he was looking at Geoff with calm eyes.

“Why you want to go to the south?” Michael asked. Ray stayed quiet, looking at Geoff.

“Do you really care?” Geoff said, looking at the boy for a moment before starting to clean out the wound. Michael groaned and bit his lip, trying not to make much noise. “We’re delivering a package to the Fireflies.”

Ray knew Geoff was referring to him as a package because they were in front of Michael.

(Yeah, that was it.)

Michael almost jumped out of Geoff’s hands when he heard about the Fireflies. “What the fuck, are you Fireflies?” Both Geoff and Ray picked up the panic on Michael’s voice, wide eyes. “Dude, I swear, it wasn’t my intention pulling a gun out to you-”

He was scared of them.

Anyone would be, actually. Geoff didn’t blame him.

“We aren’t.” Geoff said, trying to maintain Michael on the spot, so he won’t move. “We just have a deal with one. Don’t worry, okay?” and the younger boy only nodded, calming down.

Both of them were quiet for a moment before Michael asked, frown decorating his face. “You could have lied and get yourself out this situation-” this situation obviously meaning Michael himself. “You could leave me here.”

Ray felt the redhead’s eyes on himself and he stood there, looking back at him.

“We hate Fireflies.”

That seemed enough explanation.

“Now, I’m going to start stitching. You might want to bite into something.”  

The room was filled with grunts and whimpers of pain every now and then.

+

“Ryan, wake up.”

Ryan groaned but quickly woke up, trying to focus on his surroundings. “Wh-what? Are you okay?”

“We need to leave,” and Jack was already pulling Ryan to his feet, gun in hand.

“We can’t leave, you’re sick!” Ryan replied between whispers. That’s when he heard it: whines and groans. _Infected_.  They thought they were safe but they were far from that. Ryan started gathering their stuff (their bags, Jack’s blanket, their gas masks) before taking Jack’s hand and walking carefully out of the house.

What they didn’t expect was that, after getting to the bottom of the stairs, a full horde of infected were waiting in front of the house. Ryan’s breath hitched and tried to leave by the back door. They knocked something in the house and it fell loudly to the floor. The infected screams echoed through the suburbs and both of them forgot the last time they had ever felt this scared.

“Run!” Jack said and then pushing Ryan through the kitchen and into the backyard, hearing the running infected behind them. Soon enough they were on the path that lead to the street out of the suburbs, running for their lives.

There were infected coming from everywhere: the houses, the forest that the apocalypse created around them, underground, and Ryan for a moment felt like they were going to die right there. He had his gun out and he started shooting at anything that started walking towards their direction.

Then he realized that he was pulling Jack because the man could barely breath, and he was getting tired and oh god-

They were going to die right there.

Ryan shared a scared look with Jack but they tried to keep running.

That’s when something crossed his mind: Geoff and Ray.

He was going to die without seeing them one last time.

_Fuck_.

+

Geoff finished sewing Michael up and putting a clean gaze over the wound when they heard infected.

Then, shooting.

“You fucking tell me it was only both of you!” Michael said, already pointing his gun at Geoff’s brow. “Who else is with you!?” By the time Michael finished asking, Ray had his head sticking out of one of the windows and his eyes were wide with fear.

“A horde!” He screamed.

That didn’t make Michael drop his gun or let Geoff move an inch.

“Who the fuck is with you?! Are _you_ Fireflies?!” Michael yelled at them and Ray was shaking with the need of get out of there right _now_.

“We need to go,” Geoff said and, ignoring the gun pointing at his head, he helped Michael get on his feet, surprising him. “If you’re going to die right away, it would be a waste of my aid kit,” and with that comment, he made Michael laugh, loud and clear.

Moments after, Geoff had the redhead on his back and Michael wasn’t complaining.

(Well, that was strange.)

“Pick up the guns, Ray,” Michael called and, if they weren’t surrounded by infected, Ray would had asked _why I should listen to you, crazy kid_. “We’re leaving this bad part of town.”

They were running out the house, looking at the horde coming after them.

That’s when they spotted Jack and Ryan, shooting back at the infected. Ray shot a clicker that was a few feet away from Jack and that’s when Ryan and Jack spotted them.

(Ryan’s smile was pure and genuine.)

+

Ray wasn’t sure how they got out of _that_ situation.

Suddenly they were out in the middle of a horde, shooting and running and screaming at each other, throwing anything they found on the floor along with Molotovs and smoke bombs that Michael had in his bag; then, they were sitting in the middle of a forest outside the suburbs, catching their breath.

When they knew they were safe, Geoff held tightly both Ryan and Jack. “Goddamn, never do that again.”

“What, bring the party to you?” Ryan laughed softly, patting Geoff’s back. “I don’t promise anything.” Jack giggled softly, then, looking tiredly at Ray and shooting a warm smile at him.

Ray looked at Michael and handed him a bottle of water that he had on his bag. “Thank you,” he said, looking actually thankful for Ray’s kind gesture. Michael took off his beanie and let if rest over his bad leg.

The sun had started to appear over the trees, making shadows and letting the wind brush the leaves, making noise. Michael felt the gents’ eyes over him and looked at them, not saying anything.

“This is Ryan and Jack,” Geoff pointed at them while kneeling between his lovers and the boys. “We aren’t Fireflies and we don’t want to hurt you if you don’t hurt us, okay?” Michael nodded, he felt as if suddenly the man was his boss, stern look over him. “We are going to the south. Do you want to come with us?”

“Why?” Michael asked, frowning. “Why would you ask someone that pointed a gun at you to go with you in a journey?” He was confused: they were really strange combination of people and Michael didn’t know what they wanted with him. “Are you going to eat me?”

“Jesus, kid,” Jack gasped, surprised. “We aren’t monsters.”

Geoff came closer to Michael and looked at him, straight in the eye. “If you want to stay in these suburbs all your life, _fine_ , stay. I’m just saying… you could have someone to talk to, someone you can _thrust_.” Geoff shrugged and got up. “You decision.”

Geoff didn’t need to ask it twice.

“I’m coming to the south with you.”

Geoff’s smirk was beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the end of Summer, and probably with Fall may come shorter chapters. Sorry about that. 
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr. ❤](http://somespontaneouswriting.tumblr.com/)


	4. FALL I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promised over my tumblr that i'll be updating really soon and that ask actually inspired me to sit down and write the fuck out of this fic, so sincerely, thank you. (‘∀’●)♡

Fall fell over them quickly.

Jack, _thanks to the fucking universe and all the stars_ , was fine. It seemed like he caught a bad flu but it was nothing and all of them couldn’t be happier. Michael’s wound also seemed to get better and, with time passing by, he seemed to get comfortable in their little group. Michael was a very talkative guy but Geoff liked to describe him as _bigmouthed_ instead. Even on his sleep he continued to talk, muttering things and trashing.

Michael adjusted to them and they, well, they grew fond to him.

Maybe he was very loud and chatty and he never shut up but he was a great kid, fuck, he was an _amazing_ person. Jack more than once would found himself staring at the Michael’s freckles on his checks and even Ray would find himself laughing and messing around with Michael. Ryan and Jack were happy to see Ray smiling like that because that was a sight that you don’t normally see.

The only thing that seemed weird on their group was the tension between Michael and Geoff.

Geoff quickly found out that Michael was something like an Alpha- he was always giving orders and he wanted to be the leader. Now, the thing was there only could be an alpha and that would be Geoff. “You need to stop talking about alphas and packs, Geoff, it’s getting strange.” Jack told him one day, when he asked what was happening to him. “There’s nothing wrong with him wanting to be a leader, also, he looks up to you a lot, it’s _adorable_.”

At first Michael wasn’t aware of this tension but when he started walking ahead of everyone, letting know where it was safe and where it wasn’t, he quickly caught Geoff’s dirty looks. He tried to ignore them but it was almost impossible and Michael felt almost as if the man was regretting his decision.

(What Geoff didn’t know was that this was the way Michael showed them his appreciation for letting him go with them to wherever they were going, not asking question about his past, knowing almost anything of him. He felt thankful for the trust they showed him.)

The tension between them got to a point where it was annoying: both of them couldn’t even talk to each other and, more than once, they looked as if they were going to break into a fist fight anytime soon. Jack and Ryan wanted this to be over, because travelling miles feeling tension on the group was bothering, and Ray just wanted them to get along.

(He had dreams about Geoff biting Michael alive.)

It wasn’t until one night when they resolve this strange tension between them.

Geoff was awake, his turn to do the watch while everyone was asleep, when he noticed Michael walking close and sitting beside him. “It’s really annoying when you look at me like you’re mad, you know?”

Of course, Geoff wasn’t expecting that _at all_. “Excuse me?” He asked, looking at the younger boy.

“You have been looking at me like if you hate me, c’mon dude,” Michael groaned, “stop it.”

“Excuse me, you little shit, I don’t hate you and I’m not mad at you,” and surprisingly, only one of them was a lie. “Also, I’m not looking at you in any way.”

“Of course you are! You’re doing it right now! Stop that.”

“What are you talking about?! These are my only eyes!” Geoff was now getting annoyed at the kid.  Michael didn’t know when their conversation started to become a discussion but at one point, Ryan had to shush them down- which didn’t work and, somehow, they ended up kissing.

Whoa, _wait_ , _what_?

It was rough and harsh and Michael was sure that his lips were going to have bruises from all the force Geoff used against him but he couldn’t complain: it was a hell of a kiss. “Fuck,” he said, after they searched for air. Geoff’s fingers were pulling Michael’s hair and Michael only wanted to moan and beg him for more, but he couldn’t get himself to it, he was breathless.

“There’s only one leader in here, kid, and it’s me,” Geoff growled. “Understood?”

“Yeah,” Michael answered before adding. “Can we continue with this?”

Geoff laughed and pulled Michael closer.

When Ray woke up that morning, Ryan was doing the watch and pointed at Geoff sitting with Michael on his lap, both of them sound asleep. He guessed it was a lot better than feeling all the tension.

+

Little towns started appearing in front of them more than expected.

Abandoned houses and buildings, lonely streets filled with trash (oxidized cars and signs, papers and dirt) and, of course, no one was around, it was always empty. There wasn’t a soldier, a hunter nor an infected around and that was very surprising. Ray asked himself how many other towns around the states were like this, or even if the world looked like this. It was strange but he felt safe and that thought always let him a bad taste on his mouth.

The plains and the houses soon disappeared and became mountains and rocks, and the cold air that started hitting them made them knew that winter was going to be kind of rough.

When night fell, Michael started asking questions to Ray while everyone around was sleeping.

“Geoff said that you were delivering a package to the Fireflies,” he started and Ray turned his head quickly to look at him. “I’m curious of what it is.”

“I don’t know,” Ray lied. “He never told me and I haven’t seen it.”

“Really?” Michael asked, more to himself than to Ray. “Do you think it’s something important?”

“I don’t know, probably.” Ray shrugged and looked away, trying to play it cool. “Who are you, Michael?” Michael looked at him with a frown but with a smirk on his face, amused by the question. Ray chuckled before talking again. “I mean, where do you come from? What’s your story?”

“I was from Jersey,” and Ray’s eyebrow rose. “Uhm, I, I drove through the States when my family died. I didn’t want to stay there anymore and Jersey and New York were getting way to dangerous.” Michael started talking about his life, about the people he met and died along the way, how the Fireflies tried to kill him once and how the soldiers tried to do the same. He talked about a girl, a wonderful girl that he fell in love with and both of them decided that they would create their own town, just for the two of them-

“Lindsay,” Ray said, looking at him. Michael’s eyes went wide and looked at him in silence. “ _You_ are Michael, the one that left her on Sleepy Eye.”

“Yeah,” his voice broke and nodded. “I’m that Michael. Is she fine?”

“She’s alright.” Then, Ray punched Michael’s arm but not hard enough to actually hurt him. “You’re an asshole, I hope you know that” and Michael giggled, looking at Ray, nodding again.

“I am but, if I didn’t leave, would have killed each other. We think differently and it wouldn’t work. I mean, she is-” but Ray stopped him midsentence.

“You don’t have to explain it. I read the letter.”

“Oh, okay then.”

They stayed in silence before Ray started talking about Lindsay, that Ryan knew her and how they got to Sleepy Eye. They laughed when talking about people and the cities and how boring they were. Michael talked about his families and the good moments before everything went to hell. Ray never said a word about how he met the Gents, about Lyra or what had happened to Joel. He wasn’t sure how they got around to it, talking about silly things, how Ray had never kissed a girl (“ _Seriously, dude? It’s like, the softest thing you could ever imagine_ ”) and how Michael had never kissed a boy before Geoff and himself got their tension sorted out.

“I mean, he’s great,” Ray commented it.

“You have kissed him too?” Michael asked, looking at him from the corner of his eye. Ray only hummed in agreement. “So, basically it’s like I kissed you too.”

Ray laughed. “Well, if you think of it like that you also kissed Ryan, you know?”

“Hmm, I guess so.” Michael turned around and watched Ray, who was looking at the gents sleeping and with the moonlight and everything, Michael found him endearing. “Hey, Ray.” The younger turned his head around and, before he knew it, Michael’s hand was on his cheek and his lips on Ray’s. He was shocked for a moment before returning the kiss, moving his hand and pulling softly the other boy’s shirt, to pull him closer. Michael moved away and gasped. “Now I only have to kiss Jack.”

“You’re the worst Michael Jones, kissing everyone you see,” but even when Ray’s comment seemed serious, Michael laughed, and Ray’s heart skipped a beat.

Jack found Ray and Michael sleeping next to each other when he woke up, seeing Geoff sitting not too far from them, probably keeping watch. He was looking around when Geoff’s spoke. “Ryan went up the hill to see if he could see anything.”

Jack looked up and found a small figure walking, slowly making his way up. He sighed and sat down next to Geoff, seeing the slow sunrise coming up in front of them. It’s been a while since they had a moment for themselves; the last time was probably before Ryan reappeared in their front door that night. Jack let his head rest in Geoff’s shoulder and Geoff could help but press a kiss or two on Jack’s hair.

“They are our boys, right?” Jack started, mumbling softly and Geoff nodded softly, his hand on Jack’s hair, caressing it softly. “I don’t want to lose him, Geoff.” The older man turned to look at Jack, who was looking away at the two younger boys sleeping. “Ray- I, I don’t want to lose him.”

“We won’t lose him, okay?” Geoff gave his lover a small smile before kissing him softly.

Ryan returned with news about an industrial zone and a power plant not too far away.

+

They had found an old warehouse in the outskirts of some city they had been spotting in the distance. Geoff and Ryan stayed outside, looking around while Jack, Michael and Ray entered.

“This thing is huge,” Jack commented, hearing his own voice echoing in the almost empty warehouse. Big machines were around, spider webs and dust on them, along with a few coils lying around; this must had been a fabric of some sorts. “It looks intact.”

“It does,” Michael answered, seeing a small office on one of the walls. He entered slowly, looking at the row of desk and papers lying, along with computers and some glass that may had come from the broken window. He moved a few steps into it when he heard a sound coming from the end of the office.

“Michael?” Ray called after a few seconds of silence.

“It’s empty, don’t-” but before he could continue, he let out a groan, surprised when something jumped from behind the desk and onto him, making him fall onto the floor. His gun flew away from his hand and he was fighting with whatever this was-

_This_ was a human.

He pushed the other person away and, between some fighting, he managed to get on top of the other man. Michael had taken his arms and held them in place, looking at the man’s eyes.  “Michael!” Jack yelled and he heard the fast footsteps coming to the small office. Michael pushed himself over, covering the other man when he saw Jack pulling his gun onto them. “Michael.”

“Don’t.” He almost yelled and when he moved away, the other man was looking at him wide eyed. Michael had been holding the man’s wrist with his own, trying to calm him down- which seemed to work. “I, we don’t want to hurt you, okay?” The other man nodded. Jack and Ray were watching from the doorway, their guns still pointing out at them.

Michael made a gesture to lower their guns and they did, hesitant.

“Let me go,” the boy muttered.

“I’m Michael,” he started, while letting go the man’s wrist. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the other man said, looking at Michael with his brown eyes, still wide. “My name is Gavin.”

“Weird accent” but Gavin didn’t move at all yet Michael smiled softly and moved away from him. Gavin moved away from them, as if he was scared, his back pressing against one of the closest walls. “We aren’t going to hurt you, I promise.”

“Why are you so friendly?” Gavin asked, frowning and looking between the three people. Ray and Michael shared a look when they noticed the panicked expression in Gavin’s eyes. “Are you going to eat me?”

“God, no,” Jack groaned, passing a hand through his hair. “Why everyone thinks that?”

“Jack? Michael?” They heard Geoff’s voice coming from somewhere inside the warehouse and then, footsteps approaching closer.  All of them turned their heads to see Geoff appearing under the doorframe. They could hear Ryan’s footsteps echoing.  “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, he was-” and when Michael turned around, the boy wasn’t there anymore and Jack was pointing out of the window, seeing Gavin running away from them, not looking back. “Well, that was weird.”

+

After they searched around the industrial zone, they realized it was empty (empty, empty and useless warehouse) and walked a few hours before they spotted the power plant at the start of the river. They approached it slowly and carefully, always looking around. The power plant looked way bigger than it seemed in the distance and Ray felt quite intimidated by it. Ryan’s hand on his shoulder calmed him down.

All of them stopped when they got to the door. Jack and Geoff started trying to get the iron doors open but they had no luck. Michael was about to say something when they heard guns being charged and when they noticed, snipers started appearing from the towers.

A blonde, young woman appeared in one of the towers, gun pointed at them.

“This is a private facility, you better drop your weapons and leave.”

Geoff and Jack looked back and saw Ryan pushing Michael and Ray behind his back; all of them had their guns drawn out. The woman told them to drop their weapons or she’ll shot without thinking it twice; when they didn’t, she repeated the message, this time with an angry tone.

“Don’t shoot.” Silence fell.  They heard soft murmurs.

A few seconds passed when the iron doors opened widely and a man with brown, curly hair smiled brightly and almost running towards Geoff. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Geoff Ramsey” he laughed and Geoff opened his arms, hugging the man tightly. “I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

“Yeah,” Geoff moved away but they couldn’t stop touching each other, their hands on each other’s shoulders and arms, smiles bright on their faces. “I missed you, Burnie.”

“Oh, now you’re getting sentimental?” Burnie said with a smug look on his face; Geoff hit him softly on the arm and laughed. Burnie laughed too but his laugh dissipated when he noticed the people behind his old friend. “Who are they?”

“We need to talk,” Geoff said softly, as if he was begging for help. Burnie nodded and yelled at everyone to stop pointing guns at them; Geoff felt warm inside when Burnie referred at him as an _old friend_. A blonde woman came down to the doors and walked beside Burnie.

“What do you think you’re doing? You know we cannot accept more people until winter come and goes.”

“Ashley, listen-”

“We won’t be here long,” Ryan interrupted them and when all the eyes fell on him, he felt uncomfortable. Geoff nodded and told them that it was truth. The woman huffed and looked at them angrily but Ryan smiled, then she walked away.

“C’mon, it’s cold out here,” Burnie smiled at them, hand in Geoff’s shoulder. Ryan moved in with Michael and Ray, while Jack just stood next to Geoff, waiting for them to come in.

The power plant was an interesting place.

Ray felt uncomfortable since everyone inside of the building looked at them as if they were the infected, as if they didn’t belong in there. Ray held Michael’s hand strongly while the other boy walked as if he owned the place: his confidence was showing. Burnie opened a door and Geoff entered but stopped all of them at the door. “Care to leave us alone for a few minutes?” While everyone nodded without thinking it twice, Jack hesitated but allowed it. Geoff smiled before closing the door behind him.

They sat outside, their backs pressed against the cold wall and their bags lying all over the floor. Ray rested his head on Ryan’s shoulder, while the other man looked around, his gun lying on his lap. Jack was writing in some book that Michael didn’t notice he had until now and he couldn’t help but look at Jack’s handwriting: it was pretty.

“I assume you’re Geoff’s boys” and all of them looked up, seeing the blonde woman standing in front of them, her arms crossed. “I’m Ashley, I’m sorry for what happened outside.”

“It’s okay,” Jack smiled. “I guess you kind of run things over here” and the woman smiled, a genuine smile on her face. They made a small chat before her walkie-talkie started emanating sounds and buzzes. She got up and asked her if any of them wanted to take a walk around the building. Jack shook his head but Michael and Ray nodded quickly, actually interested in what was around there.

“Ryan?” Michael asked, and after exchanging some glances, Ryan left with Ashley and the lads, leaving Jack sitting beside the door. He started cleaning his gun, trying to do something useful with the time he had. It was silent in the hall but Jack could hear Burnie and Geoff’s soft murmurs coming through the door.

Out of sudden, it seemed like everything was loud.

He heard something metallic falling to the floor in the room and then outside, some guns firing, then alarms and people screaming. Jack didn’t have to get up before Geoff was coming out of the room, pulling him straight and running at the end of the hall; both of them had their gun in their hands. Infected were coming in from everywhere and Jack didn’t know where the fuck they came, everything seemed so quiet and calm on their way to this place. Burnie was shouting orders to his guys and, in time to time, Geoff would call for Ryan or Ray or Michael, waiting for an answer.

They didn’t see them for at least a few minutes but Jack thought it was an eternity. After being together for so long, being apart was weird and it feel really strange, and more in situations like this.

“Are you guys okay?” Geoff said, running at them. Ashley was running behind them, straight into Burnie’s arms, murmuring things to him. Jack turned around and noticed blood on Michael’s shirt and his heart jumped in his chest; he wasn’t sure if he walked or ran but now he was standing in front of him, hands on his shoulders.

Michael was rambling about what had happened but Jack didn’t actually care what he was saying. “Are you okay?” He asked for the third time. “Michael, are you okay?” He answered with a _yeah_ , smiling softly at Jack and the older man couldn’t contain himself so he pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad.”

Jack pressed a kiss into Michael’s hair before checking in on Ray and Ryan.

-

When Ryan came home from college, in summer, he found an empty house.

He remembered hearing his mother telling him that his father, his sister and herself were going somewhere out in the woods, they will be out when he came home and he didn’t really care. It was nice to be home and have a moment for himself: He sleep all the time he could because, holy shit, college drains the shit out of you. He ate and watched television; he went out with some friends and played with the family dog, Reggie.

When his family came home, he received them with a smile on the face and open arms. His mother was so happy to see him back, kissing his cheeks and hugging him; his father patted his back, smile in his face and his sister playfully punched him in the arm, telling him that she didn’t miss him at all (and he knew it was a lie). When his family came home, he expected everything to be alright.

Well, he didn’t find that.

His parents started to get sick, his mother had to be bedridden days straight and his father just shook off his worry, saying that he’d be fine, that it was only the flu. Soon enough, his sister went down with it too. All of them had trouble breathing, their coughing was horrible and everyday it got worse; they were often running to the bathroom because they felt sick and Ryan didn’t know what to do.

Then, the day came.

He wasn’t sure how everything started but he knew that the house was way too quiet. He woke up in the middle of the night, he wasn’t sure why he woke up but he had a horrible knot on the start of his stomach. He grabbed the bat that his sister left in the hall, walking slowly, in silence.

Lights and sirens were going outside and he frowned, because, what the fuck was happening?

The next thing he remembers is that he’s being held by some men with dark clothes on, his family lying in the floor dead, blood everywhere and their faces- oh god, he wasn’t sure if it was because of the bullets or because the sickness but they weren’t them anymore and Ryan was screaming and, what was happening? They were pulling him outside, roaming the house ( _his_ house, his childhood home) and strong arms were holding him, pulling him back from his family.

The street was so loud.

He kept hearing people screaming _fireflies, fireflies_ in panic, as if they were something bad and Ryan didn’t understand. They pushed him into his knees, his hands behind his head and they, oh god, they had guns and they were pointed at him and his neighbors. There was someone passing by, something on his hand that beeped every time he passed by the next person- it was always the same beep, the same beep.

When it got to Ryan, it made a different noise.

He looked up at the man but he couldn’t see his face, neither his expression- the man only looked at the thing and continued walking along the line. After he finished, the man pointed at Ryan and someone came, pulling him to his feet and pushing him to the nearest truck.

He heard guns firing off and Ryan didn’t have to turn around to see what had happened.

He was the only one in the back of the truck and, when the doors closed, silence hit him in the face.

Everyone he knew was dead.

_What the fuck was happening?_

-

Ray woke up at the sound of loud voices.

Burnie had been kind enough to give them a room in his building; it wasn’t the most amazing thing in the world but it was warm and it had a mattress, in which Michael and himself were sleeping. He opened his eyes and saw a soft light coming from the door that was to his right, a few feet away from where they were. He got up, trying to get off of Michael’s arms without waking him up.

_You were a fucking Firefly,_ some murmurs, _well, but they were his team, he probably fucking knows where they are hiding, I’m right_?, other voices, _Geoff, we aren’t leaving Ray with Burnie, we **cannot** leave him._ It was Jack and Geoff’s voices and, while Ray was walking to the door, he saw shadows and he could tell and understand what the other voices were saying. “What are you doing up?” Ray jumped a bit and noticed Ryan sitting beside the door, looking at him; he seemed like he hadn’t had any sleep and that worried Ray a bit, but he didn’t say anything. “Go back to sleep, Ray.”

He heard some screaming and Ray turned his head to where the voices were coming. “They are talking about me, right?” He asked, as if he was afraid of the answer. Ryan got up and started pushing him to the room, telling him that they would talk about it in the morning and that he shouldn’t be out, ( _he shouldn’t be hearing that,_ Ray knew that’s what the other man meant). “Ryan, they are talking about me” and this wasn’t a question but a statement.

“Go back to the room,” it seemed like Ryan was losing his patience with Ray and the boy just pushed him away, his face filled with tears. The yelling coming from the other room had stopped and everything was quiet. “Ray, go back to the fucking room.”

“ _Who_ are you?” That question made Ryan stop on his tracks (because who he was? He treated Ray as if he was a child and, no, that wasn’t supposed to happen and he only wanted to protect him). He looked the boy running away from them, crossing in front of the other room and heard both Jack and Geoff’s voice worryingly calling for Ray. Geoff came out of the room and looked at Ryan and he couldn’t look straight at his boyfriend’s eyes, ashamed.

Ashley appeared with Burnie close on her heels.

She stopped in front of Geoff, her eyes wild and her expression strong. “If something happens to him, I’ll fucking find you and kill you, you understood?” He nodded but didn’t say anything in return. “You better be careful, Ramsey. You could be an old friend but not mine.”

Then, she left without making any noise.

Geoff, Jack and Burnie shared some glances and then, walked in different directions: Burnie in the same way that Ashley went and his boyfriends towards Ryan. “What happened?” Geoff asked, and he sounded pissed and Ryan suddenly felt angry at him because, why the fuck he was using that tone?

“Nothing,” he answered with venom on his words.

“Well, that didn’t seem like nothing to me, Haywood.”

“Guys, don’t-” Before any of them could say anything else, Michael came out of the room, stumbling. He asked for Ray, looking at both of them and, before they could even answer, Burnie came running to the room, a walkie-talkie on his hand.

“Your boy left, he jumped the fence and ran to the woods.”

Jack started picking up his things, Michael putting his shoes on in a hurry and Ryan started picking up his gun but Geoff stopped him, taking it from his hands. “You aren’t coming,” he said and Ryan didn’t move, afraid of Geoff’s dark eyes.

They ran out of the room and silence fell.

Everything was way too quiet.

 

 

Ray was running as fast as he could, a gun on hand and nothing else on him. He left his bag in the room they were sleeping in, along with his own gun and his jacket, yet, it didn’t matter, he was so upset, so fucking upset at everything.

They wanted to abandon him, they wanted him out of his way so they could go back to the city, so they could return to before (before Ray came into the picture, before they had close calls, before everything.) He was running, the shotgun that he took from someone in his hands, the metal felt even heavier than ever. He felt nauseous: he thought they liked him, that they care for him. (Ray had felt his heart jump when they caressed his arm or hold his hand or kissed his cheek or held him in his sleep or ruffled his hair or cared or loved.)

He wasn’t sure how long he had been running when he came to the end of the forest and saw a house, a big, empty house in the middle of nowhere. He stopped in front of it, trying to catch his breath. When he entered, there was still furniture around and it seemed like everything was alright.

He looked around, seeing old books and toys lying around. He looked at them with a frown on his face, trying to remember which were some of the books that Joel told him to read when he had time, he told him _Tina probably has the hand on one of them, you should ask her about them._ His chest hurt because of the thought of his old friends, at the thought of his old life- at the thought of Joel.

When he looked out of the window, dawn was appearing in front of him, soft rays of sun coming through the windows. He walked up the stairs, in silence, deep in his thoughts. He just wanted to be alone, he didn’t want to talk to anyone; he wanted to disappear.

(Now that he’s away, Geoff would be happy about it, or maybe not. He would be searching for him because, well, he has a deal with Lyra about his guns, those stupid fucking guns. What if he wasn’t immune? What if he had died with Joel?)

Ray sat down on the big bed that was in the middle of the room, dust coming out of it. He looked at the shotgun in his arms and caressed with the tip of his fingers, feeling the warm metal were his hands where before.

“Hi” and Ray jumped, pointing quickly at where the voice was coming. He found that guy from the abandoned warehouse, his hands up and a scared expression on his face; from his mouth escaped a sound that Ray had never heard before from someone, maybe an animal but not a human. “I’m sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you,” and Ray lowered his gun because, he was right, he didn’t hurt Michael before and Ray couldn’t see a gun on his hands neither his body.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, and (he took a long time to remember his name) Gavin did a twirl, as if he knew that Ray was looking at him for guns- he didn’t have any.

“I’m hiding,” he answered, sitting in the window sill, facing Ray. “There’s a community not far away but I hate it. They treat me as if I was a child and I’m not; I don’t like it there so I ran away.”

Ray smiled softly and nodded. “We’re two, Gavin.” The other boy smiled, happy that he remembered his name. “I’m Ray, I’m sorry if we scared you in the warehouse but, well, you attacked Michael.”

“I’m sorry, I had bad experience with people I encountered along the road” and Ray shook his head because, well, that wasn’t his fault. Soon enough, Gavin was jumping out of the window sill and walking towards a bookshelf, pointing out some books and taking out some comics from it. Ray was curious when he came out with one called The Walking Dead and both of them sat in the bed, reading it and laughing at the _zombies_ because, what the fuck was that, it was so silly.

Neither of them heard footsteps outside the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now, the group is complete. 
> 
> i'm finishing semester in the next few weeks so i'll be probably updating over summer and such! thank you all of the kind words and the pushy comments (because god, i do really need those). talk to me over my [tumblr](http://somespontaneouswriting.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr. ](http://somespontaneouswriting.tumblr.com/)
> 
> By the way, " _they're just fireflies_ " it actually means the insect not the Fireflies set in this universe.


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